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Mark A. Hetts, AKA Mr. HandyPerson, Universal Press Syndicate & Amazon.com    May 1998

"This book should be a standard textbook or required reading for anyone in the building trades--contractors, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and all the rest--and will likely turn into a classic text for any vocational school or class."


Webpointers.com - Robin Lind   (January 26, 1998)
"...Math to Build On is brilliant and ought to be required reading for every math teacher in the country. It not only makes math easy to understand, it makes its relevant. It makes it possible for innumerates (like me) to understand math for the very first time, even if you've failed every numbers course you ever took since arithmetic. Co-author Johnny Hamilton, who first wrote the Pipe Fitter's Math Guide, and later, with his wife Margaret, produced the more general Math to Build On is an unlikely champion of mathematics. He is an even more unlikely author and now publisher but it is clear that --despite his disclaimers -- he's a genius of a teacher.
His work so impressed Swarthmore's Geometry Forum that they now host a special section on Math to Build On, including the superb sections on measuring angles, degrees and right triangles. If you ever wondered whether you couldn't understand Math because of your own inadequacy or the teacher's inability you owe it to yourself to read Johnny Hamilton."


Popular Mechanics - Roy Berendsohn (May 1997) "...we can pose three reasons to buy Math To Build On. One is that you need help with your math, and the second is that you're good at math but you need a handy reference for areas, volumes, conversions, and basic trigonometry. The third reason is that one of your kids needs help in math. To a large extent, the book's success derives from the the fact that the authors are not professional mathematicians. They haven't forgotten how ordinary people can struggle with math."


Fine Homebuilding - Scott Gibson (December 1993 / January 1994) "Based on the idea that math is a practical skill...Learn enough about triangles, for instance, and you'll learn how to lay out conduit or ductwork correctly and quickly. The text is easy to follow and has plenty of diagrams and sample problems...the authors' approach really makes sense."


Engineering News Record - David Rosenbaum (November 29, 1993) "...they kept the book simple enough for most anyone who knows nothing more of math than simple arithmetic."


Booklist - Gilbert Taylor (October 15, 1993) "By doing the exercises and memorizing the formulas for triangles, circles, and fractions, users are sure to raise their quality control."


American Welding Journal - Hallock Campbell (January 1994) "Refreshingly casual...Icons are everywhere. Finger-pointing hands in bold face, marked 'remember...calculator icons... "This book...will teach you how to divide a line exactly in half; how to create two lines truly perpendicular to each other; how to mark 60-, 30- and 15-degree angles... "Buy the book...I am impressed by these authors."


Library Journal (Starred Review)- Amy Brunvand (August 1993) "The authors intend the reader to really learn and understand the math... There is a real need for this kind of straightforward and practical math book."


USAA Sentinel (November 1993) ''...specifically addresses the problem with math fitness in our country for a large part of our work force, by explaining the math use in design, construction, and manufacturing."


Mathematics Teacher - Robert Lee Kimbell (April 1994) "A must for the library of any school or college that has a shop mathematics program... The diagrams are clear, the mathematics is...sound, and the reading level is not too high."


Journal of Light Construction - Carl Hagstrom (September 1994) "Logically organized, starting out with fractions and decimals before moving on to geometry and trigonometry. All the examples are based on situations that could easily be encountered on the job site....If this book were on your shelf, it would be the first one you'd grab when you were having number troubles."


Mathematics and Computer Education - Rochelle Wilson Meyer (Fall 1994) "...Presents the problem to be solved...and then proceeds in clear straightforward language to direct the reader through the solution."

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