A Mathematical View of Our World (with CD-ROM and iLrn Student, and Personal Tutor Printed Access Card)

A MATHEMATICAL VIEW OF OUR WORLD helps students understand and harness the power of mathematics in their present studies and future careers. Designed for a liberal arts mathematics course that has a strong focus on applications, this student-friendly textbook helps students see the beauty and power of mathematics as it is applied to the world around them. Recognizing that quantitative literacy is essential in an increasing number of professional fields as well as in the daily decision-making and communication of informed citizens, the book develops students' mathematical self-confidence and prepares them to use mathematics in the future. In writing the book, the authors endeavored to be faithful to the recommendations of such professional mathematics associations as the MAA, AMATYC, and NCTM. Overall, students will recognize the connections, patterns, and significance of the mathematics they study, and see that mathematics has a meaningful place in their lives.

Harold Parks is Professor of Mathematics at Oregon State University. Dr. Parks won the 2003-2004 University Honors College Outstanding Professor award from the Honors College at Oregon State University. He is the coauthor of four books: "A Primer of Real Analytic Functions" (Birkhauser; first edition, 1992; second edition, 2002), "The Implicit Function Theorem: History, Theory, and Applications" (Birkhauser, 2002), "Mathematics in Life, Society, and the World" (Prentice Hall; first edition, 1997; second edition, 2000), and "The Geometry of Domains in Space" (Birkhauser, 1999). Harold has published over 25 papers in many journals, including AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL MONTHLY, JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS, SOCIETY FOR INDUSTRIAL AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS JOURNAL ON SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING, JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS, WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS, and AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY.

Gary Musser is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Oregon State University. Professor Musser has published 40 papers in many journals, including the PACIFIC JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS, THE MATHEMATICS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA MONTHLY, the NCTM's THE MATEMATICAL TEACHER, the NCTM's THE ARITHMETIC TEACHER, SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS, THE OREGON MATHEMATICS TEACHER, and THE COMPUTING TEACHER. In addition, he is a coauthor of two other college mathematics books: COLLEGE GEOMETRY: A PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH WITH APPLICATIONS and MATHEMATICS FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS. He also coauthored the K-8 series MATHEMATICS IN ACTION. He has given more than 65 invited lectures/workshops at a variety of conferences, including NCTM and MAA conferences, and was awarded 15 federal, state, and local grants to improve the teaching of mathematics. While Professor Musser was at OSU, he was awarded the university's prestigious College of Science Carter Award for Teaching.

Lynn Trimpe is Mathematics Faculty at Linn-Benton Community College. Lynn has taught developmental mathematics through calculus at Linn-Benton Community College for 25 years. In 1999, she received the Teaching Excellence Award for the Northwest Region, presented by the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). Together with Gary Musser, Lynn co-authored the textbook COLLEGE GEOMETRY: A PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH WITH APPLICATIONS, published in 1994. Together with Vikki and Roger Maurer, she wrote several editions of the Student Hints and Solutions Manual to accompany the Musser/Burger/Peterson text, MATHEMATICS FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH, most recently for the 7th edition. Lynn has a BS in Education and an MST in Mathematics from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and has done further graduate work at Oregon State University.

Roger Maurer is Mathematics Faculty at Linn-Benton Community College. Together with Vikki Maurer and Lynn Trimpe, Roger wrote several editions of the Student Hints and Solutions Manual to accompany the Musser/Burger/Peterson text, MATHEMATICS FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH, most recently for the 7th edition. Roger has taught developmental mathematics through calculus-based statistics for engineers at Linn-Benton Community College for 15 years. Roger served as mathematics department chair for three years at Linn-Benton Community College. Roger has a BS in mathematics, a BS in mathematical sciences, and an MS in mathematics from Oregon State University.

Vikki Maurer is Mathematics Faculty at Linn-Benton Community College. Together with Roger Maurer and Lynn Trimpe, Vikki wrote several editions of the Student Hints and Solutions Manual to accompany the Musser/Burger/Peterson text, MATHEMATICS FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH, most recently for the 7th edition. Vikki has taught developmental mathematics through calculus at Linn-Benton Community College for 11 years and has been teaching for 15 years. In 2001, she received a Teaching Excellence award from Linn-Benton Community College. She cocreated and presented math workshops for talented and gifted elementary school students. Vikki has a BS in applied mathematics from Southern Oregon State College and an MS in Statistics from Oregon State University.