A REVIEW OF ALGEBRA
BY
ROMEYN HENRY RIVENBURG, A.M.
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
THE PEDDIE INSTITUTE, HIGHTSTOWN, N.J.
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO
Copyright, 1914,
By ROMEYN H. RIVENBURG.
Copyright, 1914, in Great Britain.
A REVIEW OF ALGEBRA.
E. P. 6
PREFACE
In most high schools the course in Elementary Algebra is finished bythe end of the second year. By the senior year, most students haveforgotten many of the principles, and a thorough review is necessary inorder to prepare college candidates for the entrance examinations andfor effective work in the freshman year in college. Recognizing thisneed, many schools are devoting at least two periods a week for part ofthe senior year to a review of algebra.
For such a review the regular textbook is inadequate. From anembarrassment of riches the teacher finds it laborious to select theproper examples, while the student wastes time in searching forscattered assignments. The object of this book is to conserve the timeand effort of both teacher and student, by providing a thorough andeffective review that can readily be completed, if need be, in twoperiods a week for a half year.
Each student is expected to use his regular textbook in algebra forreference, as he would use a dictionary,—to recall a definition, arule, or a process that he has forgotten. He should be encouraged tothink his way out wherever possible, however, and to refer to thetextbook only when forced to do so as a last resort.
[pg 4]The definitions given in the General Outline should be reviewed asoccasion arises for their use. The whole Outline can be profitablyemployed for rapid class reviews, by covering the part of the Outlinethat indicates the answer, the method, the example, or the formula, asthe case may be.
The whole scheme of the book is ordinarily to have a page of problemsrepresent a day's work. This, of course, does not apply to the Outlinesor the few pages of theory, which can be covered more rapidly. By thisplan, making only a part of the omissions indicated in the nextparagraph, the essentials of the algebra can be readily covered, if needbe, in from thirty to thirty-two lessons, thus leaving time for tests,even if only eighteen weeks, of two periods each, are allotted to thecourse.
If a brief course is desired, the Miscellaneous Examples (pp. 31 to35, 50 to 52), many of the problems at the end of the book, and theCollege Entrance Examinations may be omitted without marring thecontinuity or the comprehensiveness of the review.
ROMEYN H. RIVENBURG.