mathematics

Thomas W. Hungerford

Thomas W. Hungerford is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Thomas W. Hungerford rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas William Hungerford (March 21, 1936 – November 28, 2014) was an American mathematician who worked in algebra and mathematics education. He is the author or coauthor of several widely used and widely cited textbooks covering high-school to graduate-level mathematics.

Key takeaways

Thomas W. Hungerford belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Thomas W. Hungerford to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thomas W. Hungerford from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Thomas William Hungerford (March 21, 1936 – November 28, 2014) was an American mathematician who worked in algebra and mathematics education. He is the author or coauthor of several widely used and widely cited textbooks covering high-school to graduate-level mathematics. From 1963 until 1980, he taught at the University of Washington and then at Cleveland State University until 2003. From 2003–2014 he was at Saint Louis University. Hungerford had a special interest in promoting the use of technology to teach mathematics.

Early life and career Hungerford was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1936. At age 16, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended St. Louis University High School and graduated as the valedictorian of his high school class. After high school, Hungerford enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in mathematics in 1958. As an undergraduate at Holy Cross, he wrote a senior thesis on topological space. He then pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago, where he earned his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1963 under the supervision of Saunders Mac Lane. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Bockstein spectra". Throughout his career he wrote more than a dozen widely used mathematics textbooks, ranging from high school to graduate level.

Bibliography

Graduate 1974 Algebra (Graduate Texts in Mathematics #73). Springer Verlag. ISBN 3-540-90518-9

Undergraduate 1997 Abstract Algebra: An Introduction, 2nd Edition. Cengage. ISBN 0-03-010559-5 2005 Contemporary College Algebra and Trigonometry, 2nd Edition. Cengage. ISBN 0-534-46665-6 2005 Contemporary College Algebra, 2nd Edition. Cengage. ISBN 0-534-46656-7 2006 Contemporary Trigonometry. Cengage. ISBN 0-534-46638-9 2009 Contemporary Precalculus, 5th Edition (with Douglas J. Shaw). Cengage. ISBN 0-495-55441-3 2011 Mathematics with Applications, 10th Edition (with Margaret L. Lial and John P. Holcomb, Jr). Pearson. ISBN 0-321-64632-0 2011 Finite Mathematics with Applications, 10th Edition (with Margaret L. Lial and John P. Holcomb, Jr). Pearson. ISBN 0-321-64554-5 2013 Abstract Algebra: An Introduction, 3rd Edition, Cengage. ISBN 1-111-56962-2

High school 2002 Precalculus: A Graphing Approach (with Irene Jovell and Betty Mayberry). Holt, Rinehart & Winston. ISBN 0-03-056511-1

References

External links Thomas W. Hungerford at the Mathematics Genealogy Project

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thomas W. Hungerford

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thomas W. Hungerford claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Thomas W. Hungerford before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Thomas W. Hungerford ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Thomas W. Hungerford

In research: Thomas W. Hungerford appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Thomas W. Hungerford in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Thomas W. Hungerford is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 2014 deaths, 20th-century American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thomas W. Hungerford outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Thomas W. Hungerford in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Thomas W. Hungerford means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Thomas W. Hungerford out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thomas W. Hungerford in simple terms?

Why does Thomas W. Hungerford matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Thomas W. Hungerford?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Thomas W. Hungerford.