Reddit mentions of Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell: Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry

Yeah, I'll second that book too. As you said, very short and very dense. He has a whole rap about how he's been teaching trig for decades and he can't figure out why they insist on making it an entire-semester course when he can teach it in an hour. Pretty cool book, but, man, do you ever have to sit down and crunch out the material on your own. Kudos to you!

By the way here's the Amazon link.

https://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Mathematics-Nutshell-Geometry-Trigonometry/dp/1592441300 is a good start. Reading through the principia mathematica could also be useful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematica

If you're scoring 25's everywhere, you have a lot of content you need to learn.

Most of the 3rd party books are crap. Sorry. They are. I've read almost all of them, and it's filler.

I like Webster's grammar: https://amzn.com/0375719679
+understanding the rhetorical questions by using practice tests and making your own steps
Cheap math book: https://amzn.com/1592441300
Reading: Man, I've covered this on other posts
Science: a basic understanding of scientific concepts + practice

A 7-point increase is not easy on your own, but you can do it if you make a study plan and stick to it. You're going to have to search out why you don't get questions right if you don't understand the explanations. You're going to have to hold yourself accountable to your own knowledge level. Doing something that hard on your own is extremely difficult, but, if you can do it, you will be supremely prepared for college and will be a very successful person.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not in any way trying to discourage you from doing this on your own. The fact that you're on this subreddit and asking for help already shows that you are a lot more mature than your peers. Make a plan; stick to it; and re-evaluate it periodically.

If you go content-driven (which is the evidence-based way to increase your score the most), you're not going to get linear score increases. You might study for a month and get 1 point. Some weird click moment happens when things get easier and recall of topics starts to happen more. But isn't it like that for almost everything?

There is an extremely good book by Simmons. It's very well-written, short, and has Simmons special touch to it:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592441300/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_XPG9AbMK7R8KC

Simmons is an extremely good writer. I'd also recommend to check Lang's Basic Mathematics.

Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell: Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry by George F. Simmons

This book seems to have pretty good reviews

and this may also prove useful as well.

I highly recommend Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell by George F. Simmons. It's short, sweet and to the point.

Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell is one of the best math books I've read, and I've given copies to several people who found it very helpful.

In addition to Khanacademy, this book is pretty good:

http://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Mathematics-Nutshell-Geometry-Trigonometry/dp/1592441300/

You might want to look at the books by I. M. Gelfand as well (The Method of Coordinates, Algebra, and Trigonometry). If you do well with the Simmons, go through those books, which are more difficult but focus more on rigor.

If you give yourself a year to get up to speed on all that, nothing should stop you from going on to calculus.

An invaluable book when I took calculus the second time: Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell

I took calc a second time, because I had taken it previously over ten years before. My instructor at the time was quite the hardass and didn't allow calculators on his tests or homework. I remember doing integration by parts where problems would take two whole sheets of handwritten work.

Consequently, I have a bit of a "been there, done that" attitude towards calculus...

EDIT - My instructor was a big fan of Kline

This book gives a quick review of the important precalculus topics. Reading that carefully, and supplementing it with Khan Academy is what I'd do in your situation.

1. Go on Amazon, get a previous edition pre-calculus book, and work through the problems.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/0495392766/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all
   
   
2. Also on Amazon 'Pre-calculus in a Nutshell'
   
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1592441300/
   
   
3. Khan Academy
   
   https://www.khanacademy.org/math/precalculus
   
   But, I assure you, you'll almost certainly have better luck in a structured class.
   
   
   
   

That's sounds like a horrible way to try to learn. If you think this problem is not representative of the school itself, complain (politely) to the department or dean.

I normally do not recommend Khan Academy because his methods are inefficient and boring at best, but that might actually be a step up for you.

Meanwhile, try to find a book to read out of. Unfortunately, textbook writing is a tough thing to be good at, and then a lot of publishers will get in the way of half of those.

Here are some to try though: http://www.amazon.com/Trigonometry-I-M-Gelfand/dp/0817639144

http://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Mathematics-Nutshell-Geometry-Trigonometry/dp/1592441300

And they're on the cheaper side

https://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Mathematics-Nutshell-Geometry-Trigonometry/dp/1592441300/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539990788&sr=1-1

http://www2.clarku.edu/~djoyce/trig/

Your library might have this book. It looks legit. A workbook like this might be a good idea, too.

Also, for geometry: https://www.ets.org/s/praxis/pdf/khan_academy.pdf

Good luck! You're awesome in my eyes for teaching math when it isn't your strong suit.

I'm being a bit self centered here but I've always liked the idea of:

http://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Mathematics-Nutshell-Geometry-Trigonometry/dp/1592441300

which nominally covers high school mathematics up to calculus in 120 pages. From an aesthetic point of view I love this idea but I have no reason to believe that it works for a person who doesn't know the material.

If you end up getting it and hacking through two pages a day for two months could you tell me how you find it?

wildberryskittles recommended the classics but teaching methods have improved since then in my opinion.

You should revisit algebra, geometry, and trigonometry before tackling a book like Calculus Made Easy. For algebra, Practical Algebra: A Self-Teaching Guide seems like a great place to start. After that, head on to geometry with something like Geometry and Trigonometry for Calculus. The book Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell might also be helpful.

I had a nice book called Precalculus Mathematics in a Nutshell but it is not geared to starting from scratch. It's a good book if you remember some of your algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.

I've known some people who had good experiences with Practical Algebra