When students have taken a good course in college algebra and one in trigonometry, they should be ready for calculus. However, they often either forget this material or some important topics were omitted. This is why there is a need for pre-calculus courses.

This book emphasizes the topics, which are often a source of difficulty for calculus students: functions, trigonometry identities, binomial theorem, and basic area formulas, for example. However, mathematics does not begin with calculus. There are many fascinating and useful concepts, which can be studied with no exposure to calculus. The book includes some of these, such as applications to finance, probability, partial fractions, and the abstract concept of a field. In addition, rigorous explanations of standard topics from algebra and trigonometry are included: the binomial theorem, the length of a circular arc, the definitions of the exponential and log functions, the theory of partial fractions, for example.