Head First Algebra: A Learner's Guide to Algebra I

This isbone of the best Algebra 1 books I have ever used. The writing is fantastic, if a little strange for those of you that do not use algebra often. The problems are well written and straight forward to solve.

This book is good refresher for those who been away from school for many years. It give good examples throughout the book to help you undertstand key formulas. It makes you use papaer and pencil without the use of a calculator which in the long run is a blessing. I've used this book along with a college textbook and it has allowed me the chance to succeed in class. This book really is a A+++.

Great learning book - strong on concepts, creatative presentation and real world expamples. Lots of sytle, originality and thought went into the design of learning: text, cognition,stories and examples - they are close to figuring out how humans learn. The content is light on examples for drilling home some of the central concepts more deeply. There was too much emphasis on linear Algebra for my purposes. I used the book for a re-fresh and used an old course book for re-inforcing some of the concepts. The graphic concepts were excellent but the low-res production format was cheesy in my estimation. Despite these observations I highly recommend this book for learning and re-fresh...

as expected

I purchased this book to use in conjunction with the e-book version I already have. I like the format and the information is very accessible. The book condition looks used, very yellow pages, and a bikini strip of white where it abutted something that left it unexposed to the sun... the only white page sections on the book. I have been purchasing from Amazon since the 1990's and NEVER had an issue with my purchases until now. Not worth the effort to return, but worth a remark about quality.

It was rather hard for me to review this book, since algebra is the basis for studies in more complex branches of mathematics, and once you know it, it is rather like describing how it is that you know how to walk. However, this does seem to be an excellent book that starts at the beginning and even before. If you have problems with basic mathematics the book has two appendices that talk about "what's left over" including the graphing calculators that were certainly not part of my algebra education back in the 1970's but are vital to learning the subject now. The other appendix is all about pre-algebra mathematics, starting with the basic addition and subtraction of integers. Since all students don't need this kind of brush-up, it is left as an extra feature. Word problems are usually what strikes fear into students of algebra. This book helps a great deal with that since the whole book is basically about solving "word problems". The last chapter is explicitly devoted to it and is entitled "real world algebra". This book has you solving algebra problems and learning its principles without getting what I like to call math stage fright by using the same principles that work so well in the other "head first" books. There are frequent puzzles, Q&A sessions, and plenty of pictorial representations of the problems that are being solved. Even if you get this book, a good Schaum's outline is always a good cheap source of extra problems even if they can come up short on explanation. I highly Schaum's Outline of Intermediate Algebra recommend for that purpose. In addition, it also has additional explanations of some of the same material that is in this book so that you have some reinforcement in the realm of explanation just in case you need it. The following is the table of contents of the book, since it is currently missing from the product description. Chapter 1. what is algebra? Chapter 2. 2 (more) complicated equations Chapter 3. rules for numeric operations Chapter 4. exponent operations Chapter 5. graphing Chapter 6. inequalities Chapter 7. systems of equations Chapter 8. expanding binomials & factoring Chapter 9. quadratic equations Chapter 10. functions Chapter 11. real-world algebra Appendix A. leftovers Section A.1. #1 Negative Exponents Section A.2. Working with negative exponents Section A.3. Negative exponents also give you flexibility Section A.4. #2 Table of values for graphing Section A.5. #3 Absolute value equations Section A.6. #4 Calculators Section A.7. #5 More practice, especially for factoring Appendix B. pre-Algebra review Section B.1. Algebra starts with numbers Section B.2. How do you work with negative numbers? Section B.3. Addition and subtraction of integers Section B.4. Working with mixed integers Section B.5. Multiplication and division of integers Section B.6. The rules for integer signs - multiplication and division Section B.7. Absolute Value Section B.8. Number sets - all together Section B.9. The number sets Section B.10. How decimals communicate Section B.11. Addition and subtraction with decimals Section B.12. Decimal multiplication Section B.13. Decimal division Section B.14. Let's do some division! Section B.15. Special decimals Section B.16. Working with percents Section B.17. Fractions Section B.18. Fractions show parts of a whole Section B.19. Fraction multiplication Section B.20. Fraction division mixes numerators and denominators Section B.21. Improper fractions Section B.22. Divide to make an improper fraction proper Section B.23. More about improper fractions Section B.24. Invert a fraction to get its reciprocal Section B.25. Fraction division - option #2 Section B.26. Adding and subtracting fractions Section B.27. You need a common denominator Section B.28. Equivalent fractions get you matching denominators Section B.29. Use the lowest common denominator for addition Section B.30. Fraction addition and subtraction training Section B.31. Dividing by one doesn't change the value Section B.32. Reduce fractions by dividing by 1 Section B.33. Factor trees can eliminate lots of little steps Section B.34. Pick out the prime factors Section B.35. Reduce fractions with the factor tree Section B.36. Putting it all together - fractions Section B.37. Converting decimals to fractions Section B.38. Conversions everywhere Section B.39. Division by Zero doesn't work Section B.40. Sometimes multiplication takes forever! Section B.41. Is there a shorter way? Section B.42. Why does all this matter?

I agreed to have a look at this book first as a rough cut via Safari. Unfortunately, it presented me with a major drawback relative to my learning style; I could't write in the book. OK, I admit it. I really need to be able to write notes in my textbooks, highlight key sentences and paragraphs (which can include a sizable percentage of the book) and otherwise fold, spindle, and mutilate the thing. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't stick with it when the learning source was online. It doesn't help that I'm kind of "math-phobic" on top of everything else. Actually, that's not entirely true. I do just fine with standard math such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. It's all that other pesky stuff, which includes "algebra", that sets off my panic attacks. I've actually taken and passed an algebra class in the dim past, but my grades weren't exactly stellar (compared to the much higher grades I got in all of my other classes), so when I saw that Head First was offering an algebra book, I figured I had a second chance. I hate admitting defeat or anything near it. This book seemed to be my way to victory. When the paperback version of the book arrived on my doorstep, I sharpened a brand new number 2 pencil, got out a fresh highlighter, and got to work. I had gone through the first chapter in Safari, so I knew that the material would lull me into a false sense of confidence. The authors present "solving for unknowns" as simple adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing problems (which they are), which I can do. Of course, that's the point; to bring the reader in slowly and build up their confidence. After all, if you are going to use a Head Start book to learn algebra, it means that the more standard (read: dry as Gobi desert sand) texts on the subject have not been entirely successful. Actually, I'm the perfect person to review this book. If I like it, then the target audience will adore it. If I were an algebra teacher or skilled at more advanced forms of math, I probably couldn't "reduce" my thinking down to who the book is written for. It would be like an Olympic swimmer trying to review a book written to teach pre-schoolers how to paddle in a kiddie pool. All that said, I had my usual "issues" with the Head Start series. The series is written for people (young and old alike) who are just a tad bit ADHD (or more) and need to have a lot of stimulus coming in more or less constantly to stay engaged. If you could teach algebra from the perspective of a first-person shooter, that would be ideal for this population, but that's hard to do in a static book. The Head First series does its best to cater to this audience (and as an aside, I just sent my rather distractable son a copy of "Head First JavaScript", and I'm dying to see what he thinks of it) and I think high school students everywhere should pay homage to O'Reilly for creating Head First. By page 14, you can see where the book is going, even though the problems are still easy enough to do in your head, and for the math-phobic, that's when the sweat will start to form on your palms. Time to confront your fears and remember, this isn't an "ordinary" algebra book. You end up seeing a nice, neat example of "isolating the variable". Seems rather benign, actually. Why do I remember this stuff being hard? Oh wait! I'm still in the first chapter. By the end of the first chapter, the reader will start to get the feeling that they might really be successful at this stuff. Naturally, there's the spectre of more complicated problems to face, but the saving grace of the book isn't just the book. Unless your high school math teacher is using this as their official text book, you will probably use this book on its own. I'd really recommend it for a "summer reading book" you go through before formally taking algebra in the fall. The book (sans class) lets you do what the classroom experience doesn't allow. You can go at your own pace. Parents reading what I just wrote will shudder in fear, calculating that their child's voluntary "pace" at learning algebra will be slightly slower than the flow of the nearest glacier (although, with "global warming" effects, that could end up being a bad analogy). Fear not. I remember thinking to myself during my own rather painful "algebra experience" that I wished I had just a little more time to "get it". I was working my sorry tail off going to class, doing homework until the wee hours, and taking tutoring, both from the instructor (nice guy, really) and outside tutoring. If effort was the ultimate measure of how well I'd do in the class, I should have gotten an A+. Alas, things like aptitude and time have something to do with it as well. That means, the existence of this book in your room or on your bookshelf isn't enough to teach you algebra, but putting significant and regular effort into it, will. Without the artificial constraints of the classroom environment, learning algebra using this book is very "do-able", even if you don't like math. Is "Head Start Algebra" a fool proof method of learning algebra for everyone? Depends. First off, you have to at least be able to tolerate the format of the Head Start series (and if you already love the format, then no worries for you). Then, you have to use it. I found it a little easier to go through this book than others in the series for some reason. I think that I need to learn programming in a way that doesn't lend itself to how Head Start teaches, but Head Start is really the way I need to learn algebra. Will wonders never cease. I don't think I'd recommend this book to be the only exposure to algebra for you (or your kids). Almost nobody learns algebra because it's fun and entertaining (OK, there are a few people out there like that, but the rest of the "herd" thinks you're weird). We learn algebra, at least formally, because we have to. I can see the ideal use for this book as I described it a few paragraphs back. Take this book and work through it over the summer, before you have to actually take a "for real" algebra class, with a teacher, other students, homework, and (ugh) tests. Play with the book and the topic, but don't be lazy. Really use it regularly so the learning remains fresh. Then, after finishing the last pages and with all that dancing in your head, enter your high school or college algebra class. Your learning curve won't be nearly as steep and you'll be "desensitized" to the fear-inducing elements of algebra. You won't be fighting memory-destroying anxiety as you're working on learning. I hear that No Starch is coming out with The Manga Guide to Calculus next summer. I wonder... Original review including links posted at: [...]

I liked this book. Why? I had an excellent algebra teacher in high school, and as I went through the book, I could hear his clear, concise instructions again. This is the second Head First book I've reviewed, the first was Head First Physics. In contrast to that book, I believe this book could be used as a textbook in high school algebra. Many math teachers are not gifted; their students are reduced to pouring through the text, scouring the examples to try and figure out what's going on. This book in many ways can substitute for a good algebra teacher, and it could make a good teacher even better. The book proceeds in the usual Head First manner, using conversations about "real world" situations designed to attract young people's attention (how big a gaming system can I afford?). There is much more effort given to an explanation of the process of evaluating expressions and problems, there is less given to working through many problems. The use of a book of algebra problems would an excellent adjunct to this book, think of this book as the instructor, and the problem book to be utilized for homework to cement the problem solving algorithms necessary for long term retention of the steps of problem solving. The book would also be useful for the adult who missed out on algebra, and may be wondering what he/she missed. The approach is very non-threatening and relaxed, the explanations don't use technical math jargon. Where technical terms are used, they're associated with an easy to understand explanation. The pace feels much slower than many introductory algebra books, but the necessary meat is there. In short, highly recommended