Cambridge Intermediate Jfathematics b- y HERBERT JAMES LARCOMBE PH.D., M.A., BSC. ALGEBRA PART I With Answers CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1928PREFACE The Cambridge Intermediate } ‘athematics series, consisting of text-books in Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry, each in two parts, has been designed to meet the needs of pupils in the newly organised Modern Schools anu Senior Classes recommended by the Hadow Report. “The first work of teachers and administrators is,” to use the words of The New Prosp.ct in Education, just published by the Board of Education, “to think out their goal, feeling their way towards an appropriate curriculum.” It is impossible to predict with any certainty the form which the curriculum will ultimately take; it is improbable that any such limitations as are imposed upon the Secondary School can ever be applied to the diversified types of senior schools which are about to spring up. But it is generally agreed that these schools must not become “an anaemic reflection of the present Secondary School.” The underlying notion on which the treatment in the books of this series has been based is that the aim of the Modern Schools, whether selective or non-selective, is to fit the pupils to take their places in the industrial and commercial rather than in the professional walks of life. For the latter the academic course of the Secondary School is a more or less fitting preparation; for the former it is decidedly out of place. It is assumed that the mathe- matical work of the newly organised schools will have a practical bias; their pupils need to be able to apply principles rather than to be able to derive them. Hence in these books theoretical explanations have been reduced to a minimum, and the use of the results has been emphasised. AtaesBRA, Part I does not profess to prepare the pupil for any examination, but is intended to serve as a simple introduction to the subject, whether it is taught for the sake of its utility in solving more easily problems in arithmetic, and in applying the simpler formtlae, or whether it will be needed eventually for examination purposes. This book, with Parr II, will introducevi PREBACE the pupil to she elementary principles on which the more advcuced parts of Algebra are Lased; if he is transferred at any stage of the cburse to a Secondj-y School, or if he takes up his studies again in later life, ke will not feel at a loss, Part I will provide a complete course of Algebra for the average non-selective senior school. Throughout Part I the needs of beginners, and particularly of beginners whose course will probably be concluded at au early age, have been kept in mind. Endeayours have been made to eliminate all sections of Algebra which will not be likely to have any bearing on the easier applications; it will be noticed that involved examples in the use of the four rules have not been included, and until Simultaneous Equations have been learnt, terms of the second and higher degrees have rarely been intro- duced. It is hoped that, in this way, the beginner's interest will be aroused, since he will be enabled from the outset to see a purpose in the subject. A feature of the book is the introduction of exercises which can be solved without any working on paper; for want of a better term these exercises have been described as Mental. The author believes that there is as much justification for mental algebra as for mental arithmetic, and for the same reason, namely to fix firmly and to revise rapidly the basic principles. A further feature is the interpolation of a series of sectional revision exercises, each consisting of a Mental and a Witten section; a general revision exercise concludes the ‘book. These two features have also been adopted in the companion volumes of the series. I am indebted to Mr E. F. Partridge, B.Sc., for his valuable assistance in obtaining solutions to the questions, and the Cam- bridge Local Examinations Syndicate for permission to use two pages from their Cambridge Four-Figure Mathematical Tables. BIL September, 1928.