Wheater - Algebra I

No one likes a know-it-all. Most of us realize theres no such thinghow could there be? The world is far too complicated for someone to understand everything there is to know. So when you come across a know-it-all, you smile to yourself as they ramble on because you know better.

You understand that the quest for knowledge is a never-ending one, and youre okay with that. You have no desire to know everything, just the next thing. You know what you dont know, youre confident enough to admit it, and youre motivated to do something about it.

At Idiots Guides, we, too, know what we dont know, and we make it our business to find out. We find really smart people who are experts in their fields and then we roll up our sleeves and get to work, asking lots of questions and thinking long and hard about how best to pass along their knowledge to you in the easiest, most-accessible way possible.

After all, thats our promiseto make whatever you want to learn As Easy as It Gets. That means giving you a well-organized design that seamlessly and effortlessly guides you from page to page, topic to topic.

It means controlling the pace youre asked to absorb new information not too much at once but just what you need to know right now. It means giving you a clear progression from easy to more difficult. It means giving you more instructional steps wherever necessary to really explain the details. And it means giving you fewer words and more illustrations wherever its better to show rather than tell.

So here you are, at the start of something new. The next chapter in your quest. It can be an intimidating place to be, but youve been here before and so have we. Clear your mind and turn the page. By the end of this book, you wont be a know-it-all, but your world will be a little less complicated than it was before. And well be sure your journey is as easy as it gets.

Mike Sanders
Publisher, Idiots Guides

For my daughter

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eISBN: 9781615647767

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2014957362

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Publisher:Mike Sanders

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Introduction

Do you have a favorite type of reading? Do you love romance or biography? What about movies and television? Is there a genre that you prefer? Are you a science fiction buff, or a reality show junkie? I enjoy a lot of those, but if I have to pick a favorite type of story to read or watch, Ill go for mysteries every time. Within the general heading of mysteries, my true passion is police procedurals, or in common language, cop shows. The ones that involve great forensic science are particular favorites but anything that involves investigation will get my attention.

You might be wondering why Im talking about books and movies in an algebra book. You can probably find quite a few people who would describe algebra as a mystery, and of course, with all the problems that instruct us to find x, algebra can feel like an endless search. The real connection, I think, is between the structure of the story and the structure of this book.