BY WEBSTER WELLS, S.B. AUTHOR OF A SERIES OF TEXTS ON MATHEMATICS AND WALTER W. HART, A.B. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN In this text the authors have endeavored to present a course in algebra for the first year of high school which shall be simple, comprehensible to the students, and of high educational and mathematical value. They have made the solution of equations and problems the core of the course; they have emphasized the essentials, avoiding little-used complexities of algebra; they have taught new ideas inductively; they have emphasized thoughtful rather than mechanical solutions of exercises; they have tried to make the course maintain and increase the student's efficiency in arithmetic; they have tried to make the course interesting by including varied problem material and historical notes, and valuable by including practical applications. The essential features of the course have been tried out in the classroom by many teachers. The text contains sufficient material to meet the needs of schools whose pupils have studied algebra before entering the high school; the topics have been arranged, however, so that a class may easily cover the essentials of the course in one school year. Attention is directed to the following devices that have been employed to attain the desired ends: Each topic that is taken up is used in the solution of equations. (See §§ 9, 10, 12, 41, 51, 60, 107, etc.) This makes the study of the various topics purposeful, allows for good gradation in the book as a whole, and emphasizes the equation. Problems are introduced at short intervals. Informational, geometric, and physics problems in reasonable number are used. New types of problems are introduced gradually, appearing first in classified lists, are taught with extreme care, and are used thereafter in miscellaneous lists. Experimental verification is suggested for some of the facts from geometry and physics that are used. (See Exercises 7, 25, 28, 29, 38, 39, 49, 106; §§ 13, 142, 143, 190, etc.) 547310 |