College Geometry: A Problem Solving Approach with Applications

by Gary L. Musser, Lynn Trimpe, Vikki Maurer

For courses in Geometry or Geometry for Future Teachers. This popular book has four main 1. to help students become better problem solvers, especially in solving common application problems involving geometry; 2. to help students learn many properties of geometric figures, to verify them using proofs, and to use them to solve applied problems; 3. to expose students to the axiomatic method of synthetic Euclidean geometry at an appropriate level of sophistication; and 4. to provide students with other methods for solving problems in geometry, namely using coordinate geometry and transformation geometry. Beginning with informal experiences, the book gradually moves toward more formal proofs, and includes special topics sections.

Genres: Mathematics

656 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 1994

Reviews

[Louis Fritz v · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent resource for the basics of geometry and the quality of the questions involved.

I had two main concerns with the text though:
1) I thought it was a poor way to show the differences between different quadrilaterals through a table rather than showing the comparison through separate sections on the distinct qualities of quadrilaterals. I understand his desire to abridge the content for college level, but I felt this does a gross disservice to the core differences between the parallelograms.

2) For my course, we spent the final week on the non-Euclidean geometries. While I felt he does well giving a brief overview, these do not do well to prepare the student to understand using these concepts for the questions in the chapter - college student or not.

[Joy Virtue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of the drawings used with problems make no sense, where major arcs are 88°, and minor arcs are 216°.