|
Textbook prices have continued to rise leading faculty and governing bodies to seek ways of decreasing the financial burden placed on our students. While the internet provides access to many free course materials, using electronic materials in class presents a number of difficulties, both for instructors and students, including vetting, adapting, distributing, and brining these materials to class. Our project seeks to facilitate the use of “free” course materials in mathematics courses at VCU by identifying and publishing high-quality “free” texts so that instructors may adopt them by name and ISBN just like any commercial text, and students have the option of purchasing a low-cost print-on-demand copy from the bookstore and/or using an electronic edition.
Paperback
284 pages
· ISBN-10: 0982406207
· ISBN-13: 978-0982406205 |
Book of Proof by Richard Hammack
List Price: $12.95
Electronic copy:
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/BookOfProof/index.html
This book is an introduction to the language and standard proof methods of mathematics. It is a bridge from the computational courses (such as calculus or differential equations) that students typically encounter in their first year of college to a more abstract outlook. It lays a foundation for more theoretical courses such as topology, analysis and abstract algebra. Although it may be more meaningful to the student who has had some calculus, there is really no prerequisite other than a measure of mathematical maturity. Topics include sets, logic, counting, methods of conditional and non-conditional proof, disproof, induction, relations, functions and infinite cardinality. |
Paperback
450 pages
· ISBN-10: 0982406215
· ISBN-13: 978-0982406212 |
Linear Algebra by Jim Hefferon
List Price: 13.95
Electronic copy:
http://joshua.smcvt.edu/linearalgebra/
The coverage is standard: linear systems and Gauss' method, vector spaces, linear maps and matrices, determinants, and eigenvectors and eigenvalues. Prerequisites: A semester of calculus. Students with three semesters of calculus can skip a few sections. Applications: Each chapter has three or four discussions of additional topics and applications. These are suitable for independent study or for small group work. What makes it different? The approach is developmental. Although the presentation is focused on covering the requisite material by proving things, it does not start with an assumption that students are already able at abstract work. Instead, it proceeds with a great deal of motivation, many computational examples, and exercises that range from routine verifications to (a few) challenges. The goal is, in the context of developing the usual material of an undergraduate linear algebra course, to help raise the level of mathematical maturity of the class. |
Hardcover
428 pages
· ISBN-10: 0982406223
· ISBN-13: 978-0982406229 |
Abstract Algebra: Theory and Applications by Thomas Judson
List Price: 19.95
Electronic copy: http://abstract.ups.edu/
This text is intended for a one- or two-semester undergraduate course in abstract algebra and covers the traditional theoretical aspects of groups, rings, and fields. Many applications are included, including coding theory and cryptography. The nature of the exercises ranges over several categories; computational, conceptual, and theoretical problems are included. |
Hardcover
418 pages
· ISBN-10: 0982406231
· ISBN-13: 978-0982406236 |
Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations by John W. Cain and Angela M. Reynolds
List Price: 19.95
Differential equations arise in a variety of contexts, some purely theoretical and some of practical interest. As you read this textbook, you will find that the qualitative and quantitative study of differential equations incorporates an elegant blend of linear algebra and advanced calculus. This book is intended for an advanced undergraduate course in differential equations. The reader should have already completed courses in linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and introductory differential equations. |
|
