Intermediate Algebra : The Why and the How

Written for students with some previous exposure to algebra, Intermediate Algebra: The Why and the How focuses on explanations of steps and practical advice on how and why things are done in certain ways when solving algebraic equations. 

The book begins with the real number system and then moves students through linear equations, lines, equations, and systems, and inequalities. Students also learn to work with polynomials, rational expressions and equations, radicals, and quadratics and functions. Each of the eight chapters is organized into distinct lessons and instruction followed by exercise sets, so that students can master skills at a comfortable pace and build on them successfully. The instructional component emphasizes preparing students for more advanced courses by introducing them to the necessary concepts in an accessible and level-appropriate way. 

Intermediate Algebra helps students become comfortable with the small details in math that make a big difference in overall competence and success. Thoughtfully developed with clear instruction and examples, as well as numerous practice opportunities throughout each lesson, the book is well suited to courses in the discipline.

Mathew Baxter earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Baxter is currently a faculty member at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he has taught introduction to statistics, intermediate algebra, pre-calculus and calculus, and the history of math. He has served as a reviewer for Abstract and Applied Analysis, Mathematical Problems in Engineering, and Applied Mathematics and Computation, and his own professional writing has appeared in journals such as Physica Scripta, Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences, and the Journal of Mathematical Physics.