The topics chosen for this book have sampled arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and a bit of calculus. The goal was to provide a kind of “liberal arts” experience for students who might be inclined to seek ways of avoiding mathematics. The liberal arts are those “befitting a free man”. In the modern sense, they consist of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. In the classical sense, the liberal arts were exactly seven: a trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic), and a quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music). The number of departments in a college or university corresponds to the number of ways in which knowledge can be divided. Not to hurt anyone's feelings, some subjects are basic, and some are not. Mathematics is certainly one of the basics. A technician is someone who knows his job, and a bit more.  A philosopher is someone who knows everything, and nothing more. A mathematician is someone who makes new mathematics. A scientist is someone who wants to see the data, and wants to know what conclusions are implied by the data. A liberal artist is someone who likes discussion, and believes that he or she can be successful at virtually any task.

Several chapters have shown how much physics and chemistry depend on mathematics. Other books have shown how empty they are without it. Students in the arts and humanities need some minimal education in math and science in order to communicate with people outside their own specialty, to bridge the gap between the “two cultures”. A truly educated person is fluent in three languages: (1) his native language, (2) a foreign language, needed to appreciate how grammar and rhetoric vary, and (3) mathematics, the universal language of engineers and scientists. In the modern world, being “innumerate” is a deficiency like being illiterate.

This book is intended to help students learn how to solve problems that have numerical answers, with the aid of a scientific calculator. It is not intended to serve as preparation for further study of mathematics. Exponents and logarithms are included to the extent that they are useful. The goal is not  to stimulate deeper enquiry, although it is acceptable if that happens. Bits of the history of mathematics serve as snacks, not as the main course.