The Toby Gribben Show

Timothy W Young wrote a textbook which explains the power of the number one in great detail with examples and illustrations to emphasize the amazing power of the simplest of numbers. The textbook is a must-read by all students in college who are preparing to be elementary teachers or secondary mathematics teachers. The topics covered in the book range from finding equivalent fractions, performing operations with fractions, ratios, percentages, rational expressions, and even calculus limit problems. The simple procedures introduced to find equivalent fractions in 3rd or 4th grade are the same procedures used to simplify the limit problems in calculus. When he was in college preparing to be a secondary mathematics teacher, he never took a course focused on “How to teach secondary mathematics courses" such as Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Calculus 1, or even arithmetic. His wife, who was an elementary teacher, was not required to take a course focused on “How to teach arithmetic rules and procedures”. It is impossible to write an arithmetic or a mathematics book which focuses on one specific topic. His book focuses on ways third and fourth-grade elementary educators can introduce and teach the concepts and rules needed to solve problems involving fractions, ratios, conversions, percentages, and decimals. Many mathematicians believe these topics become the foundation required to work with high school mathematics problems including simplifying/solving rational expressions in algebra and derivative problems in calculus. 

Since Timothy's book is a “How to teach arithmetic and mathematics textbook”, it goes beyond what one would normally expect. Two new theorems are introduced, emphasized, and illustrated throughout the book. These theorems simplify the world of fractions, ratios, conversions, percentages, and much other arithmetic and mathematics topics. 

His editor, Steve Everhart, made the following summarization. It is impossible for someone to read this textbook, study the illustrations, and finally solve the assignment problems (which are directly related to the illustrated problems) and not master the procedures and rules illustrated.

The first six chapters focus on arithmetic concepts and procedures. Chapter 7 emphasizes the same rules demonstrated in the preceding chapters to solve Algebra, Precalculus, and Calculus problems. Even though Timothy does not expect all elementary education majors to solve the advanced mathematics problems in Chapter 7 with 90% accuracy, he does expect elementary teachers to be able to follow the logic and the steps used in the illustrations.