Geoffrey Akst and Sadie Bragg have worked together for many years as professors of mathematics at Borough of Manhattan Community College/City University of New York. They met as graduate students at Teachers College, Columbia University, where they were both working on degrees in the teaching of college mathematics. The emphasis on applications in their texts reflects a concern they share ... Read morefor helping students understand why the topics to be studied are useful. Dr. Akst for years has begun his classes with the payoff question:¿ Why is this material worth learning? A native New Yorker, he enjoys surfing the Web, listening to good music, and traveling to exciting places. Dr. Bragg, who began her career in math education as a high school geometry teacher, credits her teachers with inspiring her love for mathematics and an appreciation of its utility. A transplanted Virginian, she spends her time with her family and her beautiful grandchildren. Show Less