Mary Jane Sterling - Algebra for Dummies Books

WP: Hello everyone, and welcome once again to the williampinn zone. Today I'm reviewing Algebra for Dummies. Here to help me is the author Marijuana...er ...Mary Jane Sterling. Good day to you madam and welcome.

Sterling: Hello dummy.

WP: Ah hem...I suppose I deserved that after making that "Marijuana" remark. Anyway, tell us a little about yourself and the book.

Sterling: Well...I've been an educator since graduating from college-

WP: Is an educator like a teacher or something?

Sterling: Yes dummy. Now don't interrupt me again-

WP: Sorry...oops! Sorry again...go ahead.

Sterling: I've taught junior high, high school, and college. So I've had experience teaching a wide range of students including dummies like yourself. For the past twenty years I have been teaching at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois-

WP: OK, enough about you. Tell us about the book.

Sterling: Mr. Pinn, step over here please and hold out your hand. Didn't I tell you not to interrupt?! (She takes out a ruler and whacks williampinn's knuckles.)

WP: Ow! Do you have a pair of handcuffs to go with that ruler? (She raises the ruler as if to strike.) OK...OK...I was just kidding! Honest...go ahead...I'll behave.

Sterling: Alright then. This 358 page book contains an introduction, 23 chapters divided into five parts, a glossary and an index. It was written by yours truly and published by Hungry Minds Inc.

WP: I like the way the introduction explains the layout of the book, what the icons mean, etc.

Sterling: Why thank you, Mr. Pinn. The icons you refer to label notes or asides within each chapter. They further explain each chapter's material so that even dummies like you will understand the material.

WP: Uh...gee...thanks...I appreciate that, I think.

Sterling: Don't try to think, dummy, just pay attention. In part one (chapters 1-6) I teach the basics such as positive and negative numbers; fractions and decimals; exponents and radicals.

WP: Yeah, that part was a good review of the math I learned in high school. I had no trouble with the math in part one. The way you taught the material was very clear and concise.

Sterling: In part two (chapters 7-11) I answer all your questions about factoring that you were afraid to ask.

WP: Boy, I'll say. My algebra teachers in high school only barely touched on the subject of factoring. As a result, I never really understood it until I read part two of your book. You really get down to the nitty-gritty when it comes to factoring. I really appreciate that.

Sterling: In part three (chapters 12-16), I show you how to work linear and quadratic equations.

WP: Yes! You were very thorough, and you explained everything in plain English. When I took algebra in school, I was able to grasp the processes of simplifying linear equations, but not quadratic equations. In part three, you removed the mystery surrounding quadratic equations.

Synthetic division, for example, was never something I could grasp no matter how many times my high school algebra teacher explained it at the blackboard. After reading your book, I can now do synthetic division in my sleep. I was even able to write a computer program that performs synthetic division.

Sterling: Excellent! You get an "A" for the day. In part four (chapters 17-19), I give you the techniques you need to handle story problems. I also discuss graphing.

WP: Yeah, learning about graphing and x/y coordinates really helped me when I studied calculus. I also like your clear, logical approach to handling story problems like the one that asks: If two trains are on a collision course, and one train is traveling at 55 mph and the other train is traveling at 65 mph, how much beer has each conductor had to drink?

Sterling: (She hits williampinn's knuckles with the ruler.) That story problem is not in the book! Anyway, part five (chapters 20-23) covers the ten most common errors, ten ways to factor a polynomial, ten divisibility rules, ten tips for dealing with story problems.

WP: I think part five makes an excellent appendix to your book. It summarizes what I have learned, and I use it as a reference when I need to refresh my memory on a particular topic. The book's glossary comes in handy also when I need to look up a word or term. Finally, the book's index gets me where I need to be when I want to do a more thorough review of one of the many topics your book covers.

The book is entitled Algebra for Dummies. I want to thank the author, Marijuana...er...Mary Jane Sterling for joining me today.

Sterling: (She hits williampinn with the ruler) Don't call me Marijuana! Now go sit in the back of the class, dummy!

WP: Ow! Yes mam...