Geometry For Dummies

Book excerpt: Learning geometry doesn’t have to hurt. With a little bit of friendly guidance, it can even be fun! Geometry For Dummies, 2nd Edition, helps you make friends with lines, angles, theorems and postulates. It eases you into all the principles and formulas you need to analyze two- and three-dimensional shapes, and it gives you the skills and strategies you need to write geometry proofs. Before you know it, you’ll be devouring proofs with relish. You’ll find out how a proof’s chain of logic works and discover some basic secrets for getting past rough spots. Soon, you’ll be proving triangles congruent, calculating circumferences, using formulas, and serving up pi. The non-proof parts of the book contain helpful formulas and tips that you can use anytime you need to shape up your knowledge of shapes. You’ll even get a feel for why geometry continues to draw people to careers in art, engineering, carpentry, robotics, physics, and computer animation, among others.You’ll discover how to: Identify lines, angles, and planes Measure segments and angles Calculate the area of a triangle Use tips and strategies to make proofs easier Figure the volume and surface area of a pyramid Bisect angles and construct perpendicular lines Work with 3-D shapes Work with figures in the x-y coordinate system So quit scratching your head. Geometry For Dummies, 2nd Edition, gets you un-stumped in a hurry.