SAT II Math For Dummies |  | Authors: Scott Hatch J.D., Lisa Zimmer Hatch, Scott Hatch, Lisa Zimmer Hatch
Publisher: For Dummies
List Price: $18.00
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Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 415916
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 10.6 x 8.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0764578448
Dewey Decimal Number: 510
EAN: 9780764578441
ASIN: 0764578448
Publication Date: March 28, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
SAT II Math For Dummies will focus on algebra, geometry, (plane Euclidean, coordinate, three-dimensionsal) trigonometry, algebraic functions, and statistics. Both the basics and more advanced principles of trigonmetry and statistics will be covered to prepare students for either the LIC or LIIC Tests. Strategies to prepare for the exam and manage time will be featured. Practice tests along with sample questions with answers and explanations also will be provided.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Too Many Errors April 5, 2007
mrslurky (Somewhere in the USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm no math genius, but I remember enough about the concepts to spot mistakes in the math. It's a pretty bad sign when you find 2 errors in the first 70 pages of the book, and one of the errors is an incorrect solution to an equation.
Don't waste your money. April 17, 2006
Legolas Greenleaf Whittier (USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
The book should have been excellent. It was very accessible and easy to follow, taught concepts in a logical manner (Basics, then algebra, then various aspects of geometry, then trigonometry, etc.), and gave useful tips on problem-solving and SAT traps to avoid.
However, its undoing was that apparently no one had bothered to proofread it before its publication- there were tons of errors throughout the whole thing. Many were simple calculation errors and algebraic errors that, while being incredibly annoying, were easy to spot and ignore. However, I found entire formulas that were improperly stated (leading to severe confusion on my part until I checked other sources), mis-naming of quadrants, parts of polynomial equations that randomly disappeared while the book demonstrated "solutions", and so many other major problems that I really think that the book did more to confuse than to help me. Until the book undergoes a major revision, I would suggest turning to another source.
 SAT II Math For Dummies--a review August 9, 2005
Bill Thoms (Denver, CO)
7 out of 23 found this review helpful
When Mattel brought out the talking Barbie a few years ago, cries of educators and feminists forced the toy company to take the chatty doll of the market. Nonetheless, the teaching of mathematics has caused chills in the hearts of high school students, many of whom realize this is a subject where close enough and fudging does not count. In the 1990s, the slogan "do the math", to visualize a bargain made or lost, merely referred to elementary arithmetic. And McDonald's and other fast food purveyors have cash registers that only cite the name of the sandwich, and not the pricing thereof. The nasty numbers are forgotten.
Lawyers, who, except in criminal law cases, usually deal with measurement of damages, division of property or other numerical concepts, are notorious for having avoided mathematics classes throughout their undergraduate training (law is one of the few graduate fields that has no prerequisites whatsoever). And so our country lumbers along with distressing mathematical illiteracy.
It was largely to meet this unfulfilled need that the SAT II came into being. And, although the testing has changed, the phobias associated with math tests still remain. Ironically, math proficiency may be the only aptitude test that is relatively free of cultural bias. You do not have to be proficient in the English language to excel in mathematics. This book, like most of the "Dummies" series, is "for the rest of us"...including those who have somehow become good estimators, because they have avoided calculation throughout their professional lives.
It is interesting, in this respect, to note that neither of the authors of this book is a mathematician. Scott Hatch is a teacher of law, Lisa Hatch a teacher of English. Both bring their sense of logic and a common sense approach to this most daunting of subjects. And they do it well.
The aim of this book is twofold: to provide a review of high school algebra, geometry and trigonometry, on the one hand, and to teach the aspiring collegian the best strategy for success on the SAT II. In this regard, the Hatches follow the same teaching philosophy used in the other Dummies series. A substantive review of the subject (algebraic functions, for example) is immediately followed by the type of questions the test-taker might expect.
In this regard, the Hatches use a handicapping system worthy of any good horseplayer or a guide to Vegas. By the time one finishes this book he or she should be an expert in casting out the egregious or hysterical answers, at the same time narrowing the field among possible answers. Of course in mathematics, more than in the other test subjects, a solid knowledge of the area is essential to winnowing out the wrong answers and zeroing on the correct--or at least the best--response.
In addition to mathematics per se, the review guide goes into the field of probability, which, of course is the stuff statistics are made of. "Mathematicians didn't like living in an imperfect world, so they created their own," says John D. Williams, Ph.D., professor of measurement and statistics at the University of North Dakota. In fact, this book modestly bridges the gap between the abstract world of pure mathematics and the application to daily problems, using sports references and a slangy, jazzy writing style to appeal to the student and keep his or her interest. The problems are spaced along through the narrative at a pace that manages to keep your interest through the entire book.
Mathematics is probably better classified as an art rather than as a science. In the Middle Ages it was considered one of the liberal arts, and, of course, it does not have an empirical base. Mathematics is based on assumptions rather than observation and experimentation. True, you cannot have a good scientific research paper without mathematics, but you can't have one without rhetoric either, and no one ever called public speaking a science.
With regard to the medieval era, the Hatches point out that while the western world languished with Roman numerals or worse, the Hindus (the inventors of zeros) and more to the point, the Arabs had developed the intricate symbolism that makes modern mathematics possible.
The undersigned is a lawyer who finds balancing his checkbook a challenge. Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading this book, working through the problems, and seeing if my guesswork and estimating skills were equal to the hurdles my grandchildren will have to surmount with the SAT II.
You, too, will enjoy reading the material, testing your wits against the test givers, and seeing how you fare against the next generation. If you have high schoolers in your family, direct them to this book. Their educational and professional futures may well depend upon it.
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