Any experiences with Finite Math (by Lial?)

[NancyL]

I'be been perusing a couple of the finite math books I have picked up at thrift stores, etc. The one by Lial is very large (900 pages) and includes some calculus topics at the end. Title is "F. M. with Calculus" In the introduction it says only algebra is needed. It sure seems like there is a lot of math, and the topics seem kind of interesting- Logic, probability, matrices, game theory plus more. Another one is just Finite Math (Rolf) and it is smaller and doesn't have the calculus applications. I wonder if you could do it after Algebra 2 before Calculus? I notice that the there isn't any trig at all, so you would have to do that from a different book. Would this kind of math be helpful at all? Or just go directly into PreCal-Cal. Is this kind of math good for anything? Thanks for your time everyone!

[Jane in NC]

I was intrigued by your question:

 

Is this kind of math good for anything?

 

Finite or discrete mathematics is highly useful in computer science. Most high school and even college students are exposed to mathematical concepts that use a continuous domain (all reals or all non-negative reals). Many computer algorithms, however, are written for sets like the counting numbers (1, 2, 3...), a discrete set (not continuous since we are not including all of the points between 1 and 2).

 

If your student is interested in computer science or business applications (operations research), a discrete math course could be inspirational. It would not replace a precalculus course, but could supplement it or be an additional math course for a math oriented student.

 

Jane

[NancyL]

Thank you Jane. I appreciate your response. My dd is interested in CS. I read on the Art of Problem solving website that there are some kinds of math that usually isn't taught in the regular HS courses, but that you should have been exposed to it before college.Maybe this is an example. (they also refer to the "Calculus Trap" (!)Thanks for explaining that it is not to replace PreCal! It might be kind of interesting to try it in about a year or so and see how it goes. (at least part of it!) Thanks again for your very kind and timely advice!