Renegade343 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 (Yes, that includes some university math textbooks, but more on the undergraduate ones.) So, I study mathematics as a major hobby. That means to improve my mathematical skills, I would end up either borrowing or purchasing math textbooks (preferably buying them so I could give them to anyone I know very well as a gift when I do not need that textbook anymore, amongst other reasons) for reinforcing existing skills, or to gain new skills. However, with the majority of textbooks, I always find one small problem with questions: The answers to them are almost always either in integers, or in well-known values (such as 45˚ as an answer for trigonometry questions, -0.5 + 0.866i for complex number questions etc.). Now, I am not saying that all these questions should be abolished, and it is good that they are there at the start of exercises, but when the full exercise has answers like the above to all the questions, I find myself thinking that when other people use these for studying, and nothing else, they would be more scared to use the skills in real life because in real life, answers are not always going to be that neat as in the textbooks (in fact, I actually do see that happening with some people). So, I now always enjoy a math textbook that has answers to its questions be varied, from neat answers to more realistic answers (or: Answers that would be seen more in real life, such as infinite, non-repeating decimal values for answers, or small differences to neat values). Of course, if the textbook's contents are crap, I would still recommend using another math textbook with better content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VivaNyanCat Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 What really gets me about some textbooks is that not all of the answers the book itself provides so you can check your work is accurate. It must be 100%! At least, that's what I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coatduck Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 (edited) I absolutely agree with this. Most of the time with textbook questions you can approximate and then round to the nearest integer and you're pretty much guaranteed to be correct. It's just boring. Edited September 20, 2015 by Coatduck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techtro Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Eh, still better then computer programs requiring precise as hek answers that can't be said in an alternate way at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tate_LeTerre Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I just think math textbooks need to grow up and solve their own problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts