Synopses & Reviews
Learning geometry doesn’t have to hurt. With a little bit of friendly guidance, it can even be fun!
Geometry For Dummies, 2nd Edition, helps you make friends with lines, angles, theorems and postulates. It eases you into all the principles and formulas you need to analyze two- and three-dimensional shapes, and it gives you the skills and strategies you need to write geometry proofs.
Before you know it, you’ll be devouring proofs with relish. You’ll find out how a proof’s chain of logic works and discover some basic secrets for getting past rough spots. Soon, you’ll be proving triangles congruent, calculating circumferences, using formulas, and serving up pi. The non-proof parts of the book contain helpful formulas and tips that you can use anytime you need to shape up your knowledge of shapes. You’ll even get a feel for why geometry continues to draw people to careers in art, engineering, carpentry, robotics, physics, and computer animation, among others.You’ll discover how to:
- Identify lines, angles, and planes
- Measure segments and angles
- Calculate the area of a triangle
- Use tips and strategies to make proofs easier
- Figure the volume and surface area of a pyramid
- Bisect angles and construct perpendicular lines
- Work with 3-D shapes
- Work with figures in the x-y coordinate system
So quit scratching your head. Geometry For Dummies, 2nd Edition, gets you un-stumped in a hurry.
Synopsis
'Geometry proofs may trip up more students than any other single topic in all of high school math.
Geometry For Dummies,2nd Edition, tackles this problem head on, providing proven strategies for solving geometry proofs when students are stumped.
Students need help getting a handle on what seems to them to be a totally foreign and mysterious process. This book presents a dozen powerful strategies that make proofs much easier for the students who struggle with them. This book contains dozens of examples of places in a proof where a student is likely to get stuck and then provides tips for how to get unstuck.
Mark Ryan has a proven ability to explain concepts in a way that gives students the clearest, easiest, and best way of understanding a concept. For example, instead of routinely listing the properties of various quadrilaterals (four-sided figures) as most geometry books do, relying on rote memory for student learning, Geometry For Dummies, 2nd Edition, explains how these properties (and others) can be learned in a way that fosters understanding.
This new edition also includes detailed explanations of how to work example problems, pinpointing areas that can trick students into misunderstanding the true nature of the problem. '
Synopsis
The second edition tackles the sometimes-tricky topic of geometry proofs and provides strategies for solving them. The new edition also includes detailed explanations of how to work example problems, pinpointing areas that can trick students into misunderstanding the true nature of the problem.
Synopsis
Get un-stumped in a hurry! Proofs made easierMake friends with lines and angles, theorems and postulates — and prove it
The proof is in the pudding — and the parallelogram, and sometimes the rhombus. With this friendly guide, you'll soon be devouring proofs with relish. You'll find out how a proof's chain of logic works and discover some basic secrets for getting past rough spots. Before you know it, you'll be proving triangles congruent, calculating circumference, using formulas, and serving up pi.
Discover how to:
Identify lines, angles, and planes
Calculate the area of a triangle
Figure the volume and surface area of a pyramid
Bisect angles and construct perpendicular lines
Work with 3D shapes
About the Author
A graduate of Brown University and the University of Wisconsin Law School,
Mark Ryan has been teaching math since 1989. He runs The Math Center (www.themathcenter.com) in Winnetka, Illinois, where he teaches high school math courses, including an introduction to geometry and a workshop for parents based on a program he developed,
The 10 Habits of Highly Successful Math Students. In high school, he twice scored a perfect 800 on the math portion of the SAT, and he not only knows mathematics, he has a gift for explaining it in plain English. He practiced law for four years before deciding he should do something he enjoys and use his natural talent for mathematics. Ryan is a member of the Authors Guild and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Geometry For Dummies, 2nd Edition, is Ryan’s fifth book. Everyday Math for Everyday Life (Grand Central Publishing) was published in 2002; Calculus For Dummies (Wiley), in 2003; Calculus Workbook For Dummies (Wiley), in 2005; and Geometry Workbook For Dummies (Wiley), in 2006. His math books have sold over 200,000 copies.
Table of Contents
Introduction.Part I: Getting Started with Geometry Basics.
Chapter 1: Introducing Geometry.
Chapter 2: Building Your Geometric Foundation.
Chapter 3: Sizing Up Segments and Analyzing Angles.
Part II: Introducing Proofs.
Chapter 4: Prelude to Proofs.
Chapter 5: Your Starter Kit of Easy Theorems and Short Proofs.
Chapter 6: The Ultimate Guide to Tackling a Longer Proof.
Part III: Triangles: Polygons of the Three-Sided Variety.
Chapter 7: Grasping Triangle Fundamentals.
Chapter 8: Regarding Right Triangles.
Chapter 9: Completing Congruent Triangle Proofs.
Part IV: Polygons of the Four-or-More Sided Variety.
Chapter 10: The Seven Wonders of the Quadrilateral World.
Chapter 11: Proving That You’ve Got a Particular Quadrilateral.
Chapter 12: Polygon Formulas: Area, Angles, and Diagonals.
Chapter 13: Similarity: Same Shape, Different Size.
Part V: Working with Not-So-Vicious Circles.
Chapter 14: Coming Around to Circle Basics.
Chapter 15: Circle Formulas and Theorems.
Part VI: Going Deep with 3-D Geometry.
Chapter 16: 3-D Space: Proofs in a Higher Plane of Existence.
Chapter 17: Getting a Grip on Solid Geometry.
Part VII: Placement, Points, and Pictures: Alternative Geometry Topics.
Chapter 18: Coordinate Geometry.
Chapter 19: Changing the Scene with Geometric Transformations.
Chapter 20: Locating Loci and Constructing Constructions.
Part VIII: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 21: Ten Things to Use as Reasons in Geometry Proofs.
Chapter 22: Ten Cool Geometry Problems.
Part IX: Appendixes.
Appendix A: Formulas and Other Important Stuff You Should Know.
Appendix B: Glossary.
Index.