Introductory and Intermediate Algebra for College Students

Rating:
Summary: for a diverse audience
Review: The size of this book [1000 pages], and the scope of the topics it covers makes it suitable for perhaps an entire academic year course.

A large portion of the book is linear algebra. Systems of linear equations. Showing how these can arise in real world situations [science and engineering]. And how to solve them. Speaking of which, Blitzer devotes a lot of space to furnishing examples of varying levels of difficulty. Outreaching to as broad an audience as possible. He also provides extensive problem sets in each chapter. Because pragmatically, a portion of the value of a textbook is in saving the instructor from having to come up with such problems.

For students majoring in maths or the physical sciences, this text may actually be unsuitable. If they already have a strong mathematical bent, and even if they do not already know the book's material, it may proceed at too leisurely a pace for them. Since Blitzer is aiming for a diverse crowd; typically not as inherently proficient in maths.