Excerpt from Practical Algebra Second Course The adoption of the plan of giving two courses in algebra, one early and for all students, and the other after one or two intervening years for those who specialize in science, is spreading. For the purposes of the latter a review is practically essential. This book consists of two parts, a review of the First Year Course, followed by additional chapters on more advanced topics, the whole providing the preparation for entrance to colleges of liberal arts. For a course covering the ground of both the First and Second Courses, the authors "Practical Elementary Algebra" is well adapted, though much that is in this Second Course is not in it. Not a little has been written in this country within the past few years concerning the desirability of unifying the course in mathematics. A textbook for general use which aims to accomplish such an end must adapt itself to present-day conditions. Of the different branches of mathematics, the algebra easily provides the best means available of bringing together algebra, arithmetic, geometry, and applied mathematics, and this unification the present text undertakes to accomplish. In its preparation it was assumed that the pupil had taken the course usually offered in plane geometry. To be sure, the book can be used by those who have not taken geometry by simply omitting geometrical matter, whether text or exercises. In the same way, if so desired, the more purely arithmetical matter may be cut out, in part or in whole, since neither the arithmetical nor geometrical material conditions the subsequent algebraic matter. Aside from preparation for the study of more advanced mathematics, probably the most directly practical thing learned from the study of algebra is the interpretation and use of formulas. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.