Algebra for Colleges and Schools

After some contemplating I decided to look for a new book to learn algebra. While Algebra Demystified is a perfectly good book to learn from, I felt that it lacked a certain something. It just did not have the depth I was looking for. Perhaps I will return to this book afterwards as a quick refresher.

After a very brief look around the internet, I got hit with literally thousands of different books covering all levels of algebra. Trying to sift through them to find the best of the lot is like looking for a blue needle in a stack of slightly lighter blue needles. So I started to hit the forums as it appears to be a common question among budding learners; “What is the best maths book for ___?”. A few were mentioned here and there, so I looked them up on amazon.co.uk, checked out the reviews and sample pages. None of them offered what I was looking for unfortunately.

During one of my many random browsing sessions (which had nothing to do with anything math or physics related) I stumbled upon a gem. A fantastic math book called Algebra for Colleges and Schools written by H. S. Hall and S. R. Knight. Although it was originally written in the 1840’s (although it has had many revisions) it is still a great math book, as lets face it, math has not changed all that much in over 1000 years. Also, because it is so old, it has lost its copyright and has entered public domain. Meaning I may share it with you (I have also attached the answer booklet. The answers seem to match although I am not 100% sure that it is the correct answer book).

As you will come to see, this book covers a lot, unlike many modern books. Not only that, it appears to teach in a fashion that is much more easily absorbed and understood while not dumbing down the content.

Algebra for Colleges and Schools [1918]
Answers to Algebra for Colleges and Schools [1898]

I have not actually started this book as yet (and I will not be able to tomorrow as my grandmother is coming over for her birthday) but from Friday I will be able to give a much more in-depth report.