Basic Mathematics

by Mervin L. Keedy, Marvin L. Bittinger

As you have come to expect when you see the Bittinger name, Basic Mathematics, Ninth Edition, continues to offer you and your students a completely integrated text and package that will help your students to succeed not only in this course but other courses as well. In addition to an exceptional 4-color text that has been significantly revised with respect to design and a new art program, students can also experience learning through the Digital Video Tutor, MathXL, the Addison-Wesley Math Tutor Center, and now MyMathLab. Basic Mathematics, Ninth Edition, continues to bring students the Bittinger hallmark five-step problem-solving process, a clear and easy-to-read writing style, real-data applications, a superior supplements package, and most of all--an accurate text.

704 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

About the author

Dr. Mervin "Mike" Laverne Keedy was born on a farm in western Nebraska. As a youth, he loved model airplanes and singing in school and church. He began college at Peru State Teachers College in Nebraska, but as WWII began he moved to Chicago and joined the Army Air Corps, where he was trained in meteorology and served as a forecaster for U.S. pilots in North Africa and Italy. After the war he earned a B.A. in Meteorology at the University of Chicago. Upon graduation he changed careers and taught high school math and science in Idaho where he learned to fly private airplanes.

Pursuing his interest in teaching, Dr. Keedy attended the University of Nebraska and earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1957. Dr. Keedy was hired as Associate Director of the University of Maryland Mathematics Project, which developed new math curricula for junior high schools. His series, Exploring Modern Mathematics, was adopted by the state of Florida for all junior high schools in the early 1960s. In 1961, Dr. Keedy became a professor of Math Education at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, where he went on to author or coauthor over 50 math textbooks ranging from elementary school through college.

Throughout this time he flew his beloved Piper Comanche airplane to speaking engagements, publisher meetings, and family visits. Dr. Keedy retired in 1987 and moved to Florida where he started The Textbook Authors Association, designed to promote and advocate for textbook authors. He continued his avid interest in flying, adding a red 1937 Waco biplane to his air collection. Dr. Keedy sang in several churches in Florida, and he was active in the Barbershop Harmony Society, where he composed songs and wrote manuscripts on barbershop harmony theory.