» Speed Mathematics Simplified (Dover Science Books)

Speed Mathematics Simplified (Dover Science Books) Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Consistent, structured approach
Comment: Instead of providing a series of disjointed "speed techniques," Stoddard teaches a method of speed arithmetic that integrates the same principles throughout. In other words, the speed techniques you learn in addition will also be employed in subtraction, multiplication, and division. Stoddard's "no carry, no borrow" method is based upon the structure of the Japanese abacus called the Soroban along with making efficient use of the inherent ease of computing with 10. The methods Stoddard uses are historical and were first seen in print in the 12th century in a book about arithmetic written by the Indian mathematician and astronomer Bhaskara (1144-1185) entitled "Lilavati." The wonder and beauty of this method is its consistency (which is what mathematics is all about). Every arithmetic operation is approached the same way, a revolutionary (to some, that is) "left to right" procedure. One by-product of this consistency is that it lends itself to immediate estimates. Compare this ingenuity with the "hodge-podge" traditional way of teaching arithmetic and you will see marked productivity difference. I, as a math teacher, wish more students were taught this way. The simplicity of the methods, once mastered, generates an ease and accuracy of computation that is simply amazing to behold.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: the best speed math book i've yet found
Comment: This book should be used to teach children mathematics in our schools. The concepts are simple and clearly described.
Unlike math i learned in grade school you only need to know addition up to 10 and the multiplication table to 9 times.
It is the first unified speed math concept book that teaches a fast way to do mental calculations without memorizing a multitude of various rules for specific mathematical situations.
After reading this, i have stopped searching for any further speed math books because i doubt any could compare.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: VERY INTERESTING HISTORICALLY
Comment: but somewhat out of date. Stoddard attempts to apply abacus methods to mental calcualation. I found this book fun reading but a more practical book covering the same ground is Handley's SPEED MATHEMATICS.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Shocking!
Comment: To find out that everything you were taught in school about arithmetic was the slow dumb way to do it is a slap in the face. If you can handle that and are willing to have and open mind about it, this is the book for you. I have to say the methods are very different from what you learned, but it still builds apon the knowledge you already have about basic math. You must work at it though, simply reading will not help much. However if you follow the instructions you will exponentially increase your speed and without having to think about it as much as your use to. I am not much of a math person and I found the results very surprising. Buy it, period.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Do you want to calculate twice as fast as you do now? I do.
Comment: So why don't you buy this book, then? You will not be dissapointed. It covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Completely new algorithms for solving arithmetic problems. Everything you learned in school is wortless compared to those techniques. Of course, you must study them carefully. You will not be a genius after skimming this book on one day, but the one who study it carefully will be on he's way. The only reason it didn't get 5 starts is that there must be one left to "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" ;)

---