Vedic Mathematics Made Easy Paperback – January 1, 2005

I love it so much that in addition to a Kindle and a personal print copy, I have given it away at my expense to several people and recommended it highly to others.It is clearly written and very easy to understand. No intermediate steps are left out of the explanations. Later chapters explain the underlying algebra that makes these shortcut and alternative methods possible. It is not mysterious or magic, but rather based on sound mathematical footings, though it may not seem that way when one is going through the initial parts of the book.To many math is drudgery. Often when presented with even the simplest of multiplication problems, for example, many people execute a full mental stop! It doesn't have to be this way. Vedic methods make these situations so much fun and so easy, that one can become enthralled by these techniques. Then instead of a mental block, solving a problem becomes a mental slide for joy.It is a beginners book, however. One should be clear about that. Vedic Mathematics Made Easy will get you started and walk you though the basics. In order to master the contents, one must practice, practice, practice. This is a skill and like any skill, one learns by doing and doing until it becomes second nature. Then, in addition to the standard methods taught in school, one has alternative techniques, which are usually much easier to execute from which to choose for any given problem situation.The book is organized in such a way that it attempts to draw interest early by exploring specific short cuts and "magic" calculations. While this may see to be a bit showy, it is useful for developing enough interest early to continue to explore the techniques presented in later chapters.This book does not replace the need for knowing the basic multiplication tables. Rather it is assumed that one has those figures at one's instant recall. Similarly, some of the advance techniques require one to memorize certain tables of squares and cubes in order to be facile with the Vedic methods presented. The need to do this memorization is questionable for most people for how often is one expected to be able to extract a square root or a cube root in every day life? And further, the methods only work for perfect square and perfect cubes. Nonetheless, the interested student may learn something from the general approaches presented regardless of whether the tables are committed to memory or not.In the book, Bathia does not mention decimals. That is, when giving examples of multiplication, he never mentions how to deal with decimals. Usually this is trivial as a decimal adjustment can easily be carried from the multiplier or multiplicand to the answer. But in the case of square and cube roots, it can be a bit more involved. Similarly, in the section on Division, he deals only in whole numbers and remainders. Everyday practical problems involve decimals more often than not, so at least a passing mention would have been welcomed.

Loved the book, lots of general and special number techniques. However you need to have your basic multiplication tables memorized and basic additions to be done fast in your mind (that's the premise).If you know these, advanced math shown here will be speedy and impressive.I recommend this book to a school or college going person, they will naturally have the opportunity to practice these techniques which I will not have in my professional life.

I Have always had a good picture memory, and can hold things in my minds platform to work in. But never handled the numbers like this. I feel like a savant after the first few pages of reading this. Cause it was so easy to calculate numbers. I always knew that you don't have to be born with special abilities to do this. Which is why I sought this subject out.I dont review books that are useless or buy books that are useless unless prior to that I had a reason that was completely valid. Well I was right again. I wish I had this book in high school cause math was so tough for me, I would have probably gone to a better college. The american education system needs to learn a thing or too, cause math is so terribly taught here in the states. And becomes a discouragement to most of us.This book is making it mentally fun for me. Something that seemed cumbersome is now incapable of comparison and more usable without a pen and paper. This book makes not going to school seem like an advantage, say you do learn on your own.I can already tell this book will also help with memory. So use it to improve in that department as well, instead of getting those other books that peg or do other mental tricks. The reason for that is that my insight shows me is that the more you start to be inside yourself as opposed to external the more you can access things right on spot. Most of us are external people and rely on pens and papers a lot as an example. Any Way I don't just recommend this book I want the guy who wrote it and helped me, to get the appreciation he deserves.

I purchased this book with the intent of showing my Math Team members some of the "tricks" that are shown in this book for use in math competitions, but I have also ended up using this material in my Algebra 2 classes. The information provided is well worth the price and has already payed big dividends. My Algebra 2 students learned how to solve systems of linear equations MUCH faster and easier than using matrices on a graphing calculator...this is quite a feat! My Math Team members can now mentally multiply 2- and 3-digit numbers and can square any 2-digit number. They learned this all within 1 week after I received the book. I am incorporating also how to do mental math so my students develop a sense of how numbers work...some of the mystery of numbers has been dispelled. I only received Vedic Mathematics the week before Thanksgiving break and I have yet to delve deeper into its secrets, but I have already glimpsed the power within its pages.I have also begun to show my 5th grade son some of the methods for multiplying and dividing 2- and 3-digit numbers on paper in a way that is shorter and faster using only one line instead of using multiple partial products. I will definitely look into incorporating these methods into my regular curriculum and maybe even teach a separate tutoring section for the state high-stakes tests (they are the scourge of real teaching).