More Rapid Math: Tricks and Tips : 30 Days to Number Mastery

Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: Great book.Really does get you thinking differently about mathematics.The stuff they teach you in school is just to complicated and drawn out.This is not.A must for those who want to 'cut to the chase'.

Rating:
Summary: better than original
Review: The tricks in this book are better than the first book. If you can only buy one, get More Rapid Math Tricks and Tips : 30 Days to Number Mastery. It has some of the same features of the first book but better tricks.

Rating:
Summary: better than original
Review: While I haven't actually used this book I have used its predecessor and find that the two are very similar in format. I have gone through all 26 of the sample pages and found each "trick" or method is very well designed. Each consists of a concise but clear explanation, two or three fully explained examples followed by two sets of exercises. the first are easy applications; the second harder. All of the methods are valid rapid calculation devices. Unfortunately, most of the multiplication and division methods involve special cases which the average person may not ever see or recognize in typical daily encounters with the need for computation. The addition and subtraction methods are more general. The book will prove most valuable to someone who is already fairly accomplished in computation skills but wishes to brush up on them and, perhaps, to pick up a few rapid calculation methods which can be used very frequently. Otherwise, the book may help one brush up on rusty comp. skills or prove interesting in attempting to discover why the various "tricks" work (the author does not explain the mathematical basis on which the methods rest - he deals in "how-to" not "why?". One final caution - if you have not memorized the basic arithmetic combinations of addition, subtraction, mulltiplication, and division this book is not for you.

Rating:
Summary: Tricks? yes, but some excellent rapid calculation methods
Review: While I haven't actually used this book I have used its predecessor and find that the two are very similar in format. I have gone through all 26 of the sample pages and found each "trick" or method is very well designed. Each consists of a concise but clear explanation, two or three fully explained examples followed by two sets of exercises. the first are easy applications; the second harder. All of the methods are valid rapid calculation devices. Unfortunately, most of the multiplication and division methods involve special cases which the average person may not ever see or recognize in typical daily encounters with the need for computation. The addition and subtraction methods are more general. The book will prove most valuable to someone who is already fairly accomplished in computation skills but wishes to brush up on them and, perhaps, to pick up a few rapid calculation methods which can be used very frequently. Otherwise, the book may help one brush up on rusty comp. skills or prove interesting in attempting to discover why the various "tricks" work (the author does not explain the mathematical basis on which the methods rest - he deals in "how-to" not "why?". One final caution - if you have not memorized the basic arithmetic combinations of addition, subtraction, mulltiplication, and division this book is not for you.