Books

Books : reviews

SMP.
Advanced Tables: 2nd edn.
CUP. 1971

rating : 2 : great stuff

This was the book of mathematical tables that I used during my A-level studies, back in the 1970s. I loved them so much I bought my own copy when I left school (for the princely sum of 65p!).

It includes log tables, for that was a time before calculators. But the important feature is not the logs, but the tables of formulae. Our SMP, School Mathematics Project, curriculum emphasised understanding over mere regurgitation. Which meant it did not require us to learn and parrot loads of formulae, such as the half-angle trig formulae. Instead, in the exam, we had this book, with all the formulae; we just had to know how to apply them correctly. How sensible is that!