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    I think this is an interesting essay about how the Dolciani series of algebra textbooks has changed over time, in the author's opinion for the worse. I wonder what algebra books in print she would recommend.

    http://kitchentablemath.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-degradation-of-school-textbooks.html
    The degradation of school textbooks
    by Allison
    Kitchen Table Math blog
    October 25, 2013

    Quote
    We know the myriad ways Everyday Math, TERC Investigations, etc. are terrible, but the rot extends to new editions of old textbooks.

    I'm often asked what algebra book I'd recommend.
    The answer is Modern Algebra, Structure and Method by Mary Dolciani et. al. Copyright 1960 or 1962. But I can't recommend any edition of it written after 1970 without reservations, and the 1980s and later one should probably be pulped.

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    Originally Posted by Bostonian
    I think this is an interesting essay about how the Dolciani series of algebra textbooks has changed over time, in the author's opinion for the worse. I wonder what algebra books in print she would recommend...

    The degradation of school textbooks
    by Allison
    Kitchen Table Math blog

    Quote
    I'm often asked what algebra book I'd recommend.
    The answer is Modern Algebra, Structure and Method by Mary Dolciani et. al. Copyright 1960 or 1962. But I can't recommend any edition of it written after 1970 without reservations...

    If you are looking for home use... I bought a 1962 copy of Structure/Method I, Structure/Method II and a 1969 Dolciani/Jurgensen Geometry last week in good or better condition off Amazon. I paid ~$25 combined including shipping. You can't beat $8/bk for this quality.

    As for in print books, AoPS seems to be the current rigorous favorite.

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    I ordered a 1962 edition of book 1 and a 1975 edition and will compare with the Brown 2000 edition (the final entry in the series). If I can, I'll report back here.

    In reading the blog post, I compared what she wrote with my Brown 2000 edition. The blogger said that a 1988 edition had only 6 oral and 20 written exercises in the topic she was comparing between the three books, vs. 30 for the oldest edition. My 2000 edition had 30 oral and 60 written exercises, but did suffer from the fill-in-the-blanks proof problem she identified in the 1988 edition. The detail about closure, etc. was missing.

    Interesting. Thanks for the link.


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