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About the Cover
For Mark van der Laan, the beauty of mathematical problems and the journeys he takes on the
road to solving them are the driving force behind his work in the field of biostatistics. In particular,
he is intrigued by the variety of approaches there may be to solve a problem and the fact that it
requires a large diversity of scientists and people working in the field to find the most elegant and
satisfying solutions. As he moved from an M.A. in mathematics to a Ph.D. in mathematical statistics
from the University of Utrecht to his current position in the Department of Biostatistics at the
University of California, Berkeley, Mark has found that the most interesting and creative mathemati-
cal problems are present in real-life applications. He says, “I have always realized, and have been
told by experienced researchers, that solving these applied problems requires a thorough education
in mathematics and that probability theory is fundamental. However, as in real life, the approach
taken toward the solution is often by far the most important step and requires philosophical and
abstract thinking.”
MARK VAN DER LAAN
Every day Mark is engaged in creatively solving mathematical problems that have implications Biostatistician
in the fields of medical research, biology, and public health. For example, in collaboration with
medical researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, Mark is investigating the effects
of antiretroviral treatment (ART) on HIV/AIDS progression. As represented by the images on the cover, he is also involved in estab-
lishing the causal effect of air pollution on asthma in children, the causal effect of leisure-time activity and lean-to-fat ratio on health
outcomes in the elderly, as well as the identification of regulatory networks in basic biology.

Recognized for his progressive work in these fields, Mark van der Laan has received numerous awards. In April 2005, he was
awarded the van Dantzig Award for his theoretical and practical contributions made to the fields of operation research and statistics.
In August 2005, he received the COPSS (Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies) Award, which is presented annually to a
young researcher in recognition of outstanding contributions to the statistics profession. Mark currently holds the UC Berkeley
Chancellor Endowed Chair 2005–2008, as well as the long-term Jiann-Ping Hsu/Karl E. Peace Endowed Chair in Biostatistics at
University of California, Berkeley.

Look for other featured applied researchers in forthcoming titles in the Tan applied mathematics series:

PETER BLAIR HENRY CHRIS SHANNON JONATHAN D. FARLEY NAVIN KHANEJA

International Economist Mathematical Economist Applied Mathematician Applied Scientist
Stanford University University of California, California Institute of Harvard University
Berkeley Technology
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EDITION
APPLIED
5 MATHEMATICS
FOR THE MANAGERIAL, LIFE,
AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

SOO T. TAN
STONEHILL COLLEGE

Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States
 Applied Mathematics: For the Managerial, ©2010, 2007 Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning
Life, and Social Sciences, Fifth Edition
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Printed in Canada
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 09 08
TO PAT, BILL, AND MICHAEL
This page intentionally left blank
 CONTENTS

Preface xi

CHAPTER 1 Fundamentals of Algebra 1

1.1 Real Numbers 2
1.2 Polynomials 7
1.3 Factoring Polynomials 14
1.4 Rational Expressions 20
1.5 Integral Exponents 26
1.6 Solving Equations 30
1.7 Rational Exponents and Radicals 36
1.8 Quadratic Equations 44
1.9 Inequalities and Absolute Value 53
Chapter 1 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 62
Chapter 1 Concept Review Questions 63
Chapter 1 Review Exercises 63
Chapter 1 Before Moving On 65

CHAPTER 2 Functions and Their Graphs 67

2.1 The Cartesian Coordinate System and Straight Lines 68
2.2 Equations of Lines 74
Using Technology: Graphing a Straight Line 84
2.3 Functions and Their Graphs 87
Using Technology: Graphing a Function 100
2.4 The Algebra of Functions 103
2.5 Linear Functions 111
PORTFOLIO: Esteban Silva 115
Using Technology: Linear Functions 120
2.6 Quadratic Functions 123
PORTFOLIO: Deb Farace 128
Using Technology: Finding the Points of Intersection of Two Graphs 132
2.7 Functions and Mathematical Models 134
Using Technology: Constructing Mathematical Models from Raw Data 144
Chapter 2 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 148
Chapter 2 Concept Review Questions 149
Chapter 2 Review Exercises 149
Chapter 2 Before Moving On 151
vi CONTENTS

CHAPTER 3 Exponential and Logarithmic Functions 153

3.1 Exponential Functions 154
Using Technology 160
3.2 Logarithmic Functions 162
3.3 Exponential Functions as Mathematical Models 171
Using Technology: Analyzing Mathematical Models 180
Chapter 3 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 181
Chapter 3 Concept Review Questions 182
Chapter 3 Review Exercises 182
Chapter 3 Before Moving On 183

CHAPTER 4 Mathematics of Finance 185

4.1 Compound Interest 186
Using Technology: Finding the Accumulated Amount of an Investment, the Effective Rate
of Interest, and the Present Value of an Investment 201
4.2 Annuities 204
Using Technology: Finding the Amount of an Annuity 212
4.3 Amortization and Sinking Funds 215
Using Technology: Amortizing a Loan 225
4.4 Arithmetic and Geometric Progressions 228
Chapter 4 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 236
Chapter 4 Concept Review Questions 237
Chapter 4 Review Exercises 238
Chapter 4 Before Moving On 239

CHAPTER 5 Systems of Linear Equations and Matrices 241

5.1 Systems of Linear Equations: An Introduction 242
5.2 Systems of Linear Equations: Unique Solutions 249
Using Technology: Systems of Linear Equations: Unique Solutions 263
5.3 Systems of Linear Equations: Underdetermined and Overdetermined Systems 265
Using Technology: Systems of Linear Equations: Underdetermined and Overdetermined
Systems 274
5.4 Matrices 275
Using Technology: Matrix Operations 284
5.5 Multiplication of Matrices 287
Using Technology: Matrix Multiplication 299
5.6 The Inverse of a Square Matrix 301
Using Technology: Finding the Inverse of a Square Matrix 313
Chapter 5 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 316
Chapter 5 Concept Review Questions 316
Chapter 5 Review Exercises 317
Chapter 5 Before Moving On 319
 CONTENTS vii

CHAPTER 6 Linear Programming 321

6.1 Graphing Systems of Linear Inequalities in Two Variables 322
6.2 Linear Programming Problems 330
6.3 Graphical Solution of Linear Programming Problems 338
6.4 The Simplex Method: Standard Maximization Problems 351
PORTFOLIO: Morgan Wilson 352
Using Technology: The Simplex Method: Solving Maximization Problems 372
6.5 The Simplex Method: Standard Minimization Problems 376
Using Technology: The Simplex Method: Solving Minimization Problems 387
Chapter 6 Summary of Principal Terms 390
Chapter 6 Concept Review Questions 390
Chapter 6 Review Exercises 391
Chapter 6 Before Moving On 393

CHAPTER 7 Sets and Probability 395

7.1 Sets and Set Operations 396
7.2 The Number of Elements in a Finite Set 405
7.3 The Multiplication Principle 411
PORTFOLIO: Stephanie Molina 413
7.4 Permutations and Combinations 417
Using Technology: Evaluating n!, P(n, r), and C(n, r) 430
7.5 Experiments, Sample Spaces, and Events 431
7.6 Definition of Probability 439
7.7 Rules of Probability 449
PORTFOLIO: Todd Good 451
Chapter 7 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 459
Chapter 7 Concept Review Questions 460
Chapter 7 Review Exercises 460
Chapter 7 Before Moving On 462

CHAPTER 8 Additional Topics in Probability 463

8.1 Use of Counting Techniques in Probability 464
8.2 Conditional Probability and Independent Events 471
8.3 Bayes’ Theorem 485
8.4 Distributions of Random Variables 494
Using Technology: Graphing a Histogram 502
8.5 Expected Value 504
PORTFOLIO: Ann-Marie Martz 510
8.6 Variance and Standard Deviation 516
Using Technology: Finding the Mean and Standard Deviation 527
Chapter 8 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 528
Chapter 8 Concept Review Questions 529
Chapter 8 Review Exercises 530
Chapter 8 Before Moving On 531
viii CONTENTS

CHAPTER 9 The Derivative 533

9.1 Limits 534
Using Technology: Finding the Limit of a Function 552
9.2 One-Sided Limits and Continuity 554
Using Technology: Finding the Points of Discontinuity of a Function 568
9.3 The Derivative 570
Using Technology: Graphing a Function and Its Tangent Line 586
9.4 Basic Rules of Differentiation 589
Using Technology: Finding the Rate of Change of a Function 600
9.5 The Product and Quotient Rules; Higher-Order Derivatives 602
Using Technology: The Product and Quotient Rules 615
9.6 The Chain Rule 618
Using Technology: Finding the Derivative of a Composite Function 629
9.7 Differentiation of Exponential and Logarithmic Functions 630
Using Technology 640
9.8 Marginal Functions in Economics 642
PORTFOLIO: Richard Mizak 647
Chapter 9 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 651
Chapter 9 Concept Review Questions 653
Chapter 9 Review Exercises 653
Chapter 9 Before Moving On 656

CHAPTER 10 Applications of the Derivative 657

10.1 Applications of the First Derivative 658
Using Technology: Using the First Derivative to Analyze a Function 675
10.2 Applications of the Second Derivative 678
Using Technology: Finding the Inflection Points of a Function 695
10.3 Curve Sketching 697
Using Technology: Analyzing the Properties of a Function 709
10.4 Optimization I 711
Using Technology: Finding the Absolute Extrema of a Function 724
10.5 Optimization II 726
PORTFOLIO: Gary Li 731
Chapter 10 Summary of Principal Terms 738
Chapter 10 Concept Review Questions 738
Chapter 10 Review Exercises 738
Chapter 10 Before Moving On 740

CHAPTER 11 Integration 741

11.1 Antiderivatives and the Rules of Integration 742
11.2 Integration by Substitution 755
11.3 Area and the Definite Integral 765
11.4 The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus 774
Using Technology: Evaluating Definite Integrals 784
 CONTENTS ix

11.5 Evaluating Definite Integrals 785

Using Technology: Evaluating Definite Integrals for Piecewise-Defined Functions 795
11.6 Area between Two Curves 797
Using Technology: Finding the Area between Two Curves 807
11.7 Applications of the Definite Integral to Business and Economics 808
Using Technology: Business and Economic Applications/Technology Exercises 820
Chapter 11 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms 821
Chapter 11 Concept Review Questions 822
Chapter 11 Review Exercises 823
Chapter 11 Before Moving On 826

CHAPTER 12 Calculus of Several Variables 827

12.1 Functions of Several Variables 828
12.2 Partial Derivatives 837
Using Technology: Finding Partial Derivatives at a Given Point 849
12.3 Maxima and Minima of Functions of Several Variables 850
PORTFOLIO: Kirk Hoiberg 852
Chapter 12 Summary of Principal Terms 860
Chapter 12 Concept Review Questions 860
Chapter 12 Review Exercises 861
Chapter 12 Before Moving On 862

Answers to Odd-Numbered Exercises 863

Index 915
How-To Technology Index 920
This page intentionally left blank
PREFACE

M ath is an integral part of our increasingly complex daily life. Applied Mathematics
for the Managerial, Life, and Social Sciences, Fifth Edition, attempts to illustrate this point
with its applied approach to mathematics. Our objective for this Fifth Edition is threefold:
(1) to write an applied text that motivates students while providing the background in the
quantitative techniques necessary to better understand and appreciate the courses normally
taken in undergraduate training, (2) to lay the foundation for more advanced courses, such
as statistics and operations research, and (3) to make the text a useful tool for instructors.
Since the book contains more than enough material for the usual two-semester or
three-semester course, the instructor may be flexible in choosing the topics most suitable
for his or her course. The following chart on chapter dependency is provided to help the
instructor design a course that is most suitable for the intended audience.

1 2 3 7
Fundamentals Functions and Exponential and Sets and
of Algebra Their Graphs Logarithmic Probability
Functions

4 5 9 8
Mathematics Systems of The Derivative Additional Topics
of Finance Linear Equations in Probability
and Matrices

6 10
Linear Program- Applications
ming of the
Derivative

11 12
Integration Calculus of
Several Variables
xii PREFACE

THE APPROACH
Level of Presentation
My approach is intuitive, and I state the results informally. However, I have taken special care
to ensure that this approach does not compromise the mathematical content and accuracy.

Problem-Solving Approach
A problem-solving approach is stressed throughout the book. Numerous examples and
applications illustrate each new concept and result. Special emphasis is placed on helping
students formulate, solve, and interpret the results of the problems involving applications.
Because students often have difficulty setting up and solving word problems, extra care
has been taken to help students master these skills:
■ Very early on in the text students are given practice in solving word problems (see
Example 7, Section 1.8).
■ Guidelines are given to help students formulate and solve word problems (see Section
2.7).
■ One entire section is devoted to modeling and setting up linear programming problems
(see Section 6.2).
■ Optimization problems are covered in two sections. In Section 10.4 students are asked
to solve problems in which the objective function to be optimized is given, and in Sec-
tion 10.5 students are asked to solve problems in which the optimization problems must
first be formulated.

Intuitive Introduction to Concepts

Mathematical concepts are introduced with concrete, real-life examples wherever appro-
priate. An illustrative list of some of the topics introduced in this manner follows:
■ The algebra of functions: The U.S. Budget Deficit
■ Mathematical modeling: Social Security Trust Fund Assets
■ Limits: The Motion of a Maglev
■ The chain rule: The Population of Americans Age 55 and Older
■ Increasing and decreasing functions: The Fuel Economy of a Car
■ Concavity: U.S. and World Population Growth
■ Inflection points: The Point of Diminishing Returns
■ Curve sketching: The Dow Jones Industrial Average on “Black Monday”
■ Exponential functions: Income Distribution of American Families
■ Area between two curves: Petroleum Saved with Conservation Measures

Connections
One example (the maglev) is used as a common thread throughout the development of cal-
culus—from limits through integration. The goal here is to show students the connections
between the concepts presented—limits, continuity, rates of change, the derivative, the
definite integral, and so on.

Motivation
Illustrating the practical value of mathematics in applied areas is an important objective of
my approach. Many of the applications are based on mathematical models (functions) that
I have constructed using data drawn from various sources, including current newspapers,
magazines, and the Internet. Sources are given in the text for these applied problems.
 PREFACE xiii

Modeling
I believe that one of the important skills that a student should acquire is the ability to trans-
late a real problem into a mathematical model that can provide insight into the problem.
In Section 2.7, the modeling process is discussed, and students are asked to use models
(functions) constructed from real-life data to answer questions. Students get hands-on
experience constructing these models in the Using Technology sections.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

Algebra Review Where EXAMPLE 6 Evaluate:
Students Need It Most
11 ⫹ h ⫺ 1
Well-placed algebra review notes, lim
hS0 h
keyed to the early algebra review
chapters, appear where students often Solution Letting h approach zero, we obtain the indeterminate form 0/0. Next,
need help in the calculus portion of the we rationalize the numerator of the quotient by multiplying both the numerator
and the denominator by the expression 1 11 ⫹ h ⫹ 12 , obtaining
text. These are indicated by the (x )
2

icon. See this feature in action on 11 ⫹ h ⫺ 1 1 11 ⫹ h ⫺ 12 1 11 ⫹ h ⫹ 12

⫽ * (x ) See page 41.
2

pages 542 and 577. h h1 11 ⫹ h ⫹ 12

1⫹h⫺1
⫽ 1 1a ⫺ 1b 2 1 1a ⫹ 1b 2 ⫽ a ⫺ b
h1 11 ⫹ h ⫹ 12
h
⫽
h1 11 ⫹ h ⫹ 12
1
⫽
11 ⫹ h ⫹ 1

Motivating Real-World APPLIED EXAMPLE 1 Global Warming The increase in carbon diox-
Applications ide (CO2) in the atmosphere is a major cause of global warming. The
Keeling curve, named after Charles David Keeling, a professor at Scripps Institu-
More than 220 new applications have tion of Oceanography, gives the average amount of CO2, measured in parts per
been added to the Applied Examples million volume (ppmv), in the atmosphere from the beginning of 1958 through
and Exercises. Among these 2007. Even though data were available for every year in this time interval, we’ll
applications are global warming, construct the curve based only on the following randomly selected data points.
depletion of Social Security trust fund
assets, driving costs for a 2008 Year 1958 1970 1974 1978 1985 1991 1998 2003 2007
medium-sized sedan, hedge fund Amount 315 325 330 335 345 355 365 375 380
investments, mobile instant messaging
accounts, hiring lobbyists, Web The scatter plot associated with these data is shown in Figure 54a. A mathemati-
conferencing, the autistic brain, the cal model giving the approximate amount of CO2 in the atmosphere during this
revenue of Polo Ralph Lauren, U.S. period is given by
health-care IT spending, and A(t) ⫽ 0.010716t 2 ⫹ 0.8212t ⫹ 313.4 (1 ⱕ t ⱕ 50)
consumption of bottled water.
xiv PREFACE

Modeling with Data 40. INTERNET USERS IN CHINA The number of Internet users in
Modeling with Data exercises are China is projected to be
now found in many of the Using
N(t) ⫽ 94.5e0.2t (1 ⱕ t ⱕ 6)
Technology sections throughout
the text. Students can actually see where N(t) is measured in millions
14. MODELING andDtATA
WITH is measured
The numberin of Internet users in
how some of the functions found years, with t ⫽ 1 corresponding
China (in to the beginning
millions) of 2005.
from the beginning of 2005 through
in the exercises are constructed. a. How many Internet 2010
usersare
were thereinat the
shown the following
beginningtable:
of
(See Internet Users in China, 2005? At the beginning of 2006?
Exercise 40, page 159, and the b. How many Internet users are there expected to be at the
corresponding exercise where the beginning of 2010? Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Number
c. Sketch the graph of N. 116.1 141.9 169.0 209.0 258.1 314.8
model is derived in Exercise 14,
page 161.) Source: C. E. Unterberg
a. Use ExpReg to find an exponential regression model
for the data. Let t ⫽ 1 correspond to the beginning of
2005.
Hint: a x ⫽ e x ln a.
b. Plot the scatter diagram and the graph of the function f
found in part (a).

Making Connections APPLIED EXAMPLE 2 Market for Cholesterol-Reducing Drugs In

with Technology a study conducted in early 2000, experts projected a rise in the market for
cholesterol-reducing drugs. The U.S. market (in billions of dollars) for such drugs
Many Using Technology sections from 1999 through 2004 is approximated by
have been updated. A new exam-
ple—Market for Cholesterol- M(t) ⫽ 1.95t ⫹ 12.19
Reducing Drugs—has been added where t is measured in years, with t ⫽ 0 corresponding to 1999.
to Using Technology 2.5. Using a. Plot the graph of the function M in the viewing window [0, 5] ⫻ [0, 25].
Technology 3.3 includes a new b. Assuming that the projection held and the trend continued, what was the mar-
example in which an exponential ket for cholesterol-reducing drugs in 2005 (t ⫽ 6)?
model is constructed—Internet APPLIED EXAMPLE 1 Internet Gaming Sales The estimated growth
c. What was the rate of increase of the market for cholesterol-reducing drugs
Gaming Sales—using the logistic in global Internet-gaming revenue (in billions of dollars), as predicted by
over the period in question?
industry analysts, is given in the following table:
function of a graphing utility. Source: S. G. Cowen
Another new example—TV
Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Mobile Phones—has been added
to Using Technology 10.3. Addi- Revenue 3.1 3.9 5.6 8.0 11.8 15.2 18.2 20.4 22.7 24.5
tional graphing calculator screens
in some sections and Exploring a. Use Logistic to find a regression model for the data. Let t ⫽ 0 correspond to
with Technology examples illus- 2001.
trating the use of the graphing b. Plot the scatter diagram and the graph of the function f found in part (a) using
calculator to solve inequalities the viewing window [0, 9] ⫻ [0, 30].
and to generate random numbers Source: Christiansen Capital/Advisors
have been added throughout.
 PREFACE xv

Variety of Problem 2.3 Concept Questions

Types 1. a. What is a function? c. d.
y y
Additional rote questions, true b. What is the domain of a function? The range of a function?
c. What is an independent variable? A dependent variable?
or false questions, and concept
2. a. What is the graph of a function? Use a drawing to illus-
questions have been added trate the graph, the domain, and the range of a function.
throughout the text to enhance b. If you are given a curve in the xy-plane, how can you tell x
0
if the graph is that of a function f defined by y ⫽ f(x)?
the exercise sets. (See, for 0
x
3. Are the following graphs of functions? Explain.
example, the graphical questions a. b.
added to Concept Questions 2.3, y y
4. What are the domain and range of the function f with the
page 95.) following graph?
y

4
x x 3
0 0
2

1
(2, 12 )
x
1 2 3 4 5

Action-Oriented
Study Tabs
Convenient color-coded study
tabs, similar to Post-it® flags,
make it easy for students to tab
pages that they want to return to
later, whether it be for
additional review, exam
preparation, online exploration,
or identifying a topic to be
discussed with the instructor.
xvi PREFACE

Specific Content Changes

■ More applications have been added to the algebra review chapters.
■ The discussion of mortgages has been enhanced with a new example on adjustable-rate
mortgages and the addition of many new applied exercises.
■ Section 2.7, on functions and mathematical models, has been reorganized and new mod-
els have been introduced. Here, students are now asked to use a model describing global
warming to predict the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that will be present in the
atmosphere in 2010, and a model describing the assets of the Social Security trust fund
to determine when those assets are expected to be depleted.
■ The chain rule in Section 9.6 is now introduced with an application: the population of
Americans aged 55 years and older.
■ A How-To Technology Index has been added for easy reference.
■ New Using Technology Excel sections for Microsoft Office 2007 are now available on
the Web.

TRUSTED FEATURES
In addition to the new features, we have retained many of the following hallmarks that
have made this series so usable and well-received in past editions:
■ Section exercises to help students understand and apply concepts
■ Optional technology sections to explore mathematical ideas and solve problems
■ End-of-chapter review sections to assess understanding and problem-solving skills
■ Features to motivate further exploration

Self-Check Exercises 2.5 Self-Check Exercises

Offering students immediate
A manufacturer has a monthly fixed cost of $60,000 and a pro- 3. What is the profit function?
feedback on key concepts, these duction cost of $10 for each unit produced. The product sells
for $15/unit. 4. Compute the profit (loss) corresponding to production lev-
exercises begin each end-of- els of 10,000 and 14,000 units/month.
section exercise set. Fully worked- 1. What is the cost function?
Solutions to Self-Check Exercises 2.5 can be found on
out solutions can be found at the 2. What is the revenue function? page 120.

end of each exercise section.

Concept Questions 2.5 Concept Questions

Designed to test students’ 1. a. What is a linear function? Give an example. 3. Explain the meaning of each term:
understanding of the basic b. What is the domain of a linear function? The range? a. Break-even point
c. What is the graph of a linear function? b. Break-even quantity
concepts discussed in the section, c. Break-even revenue
2. What is the general form of a linear cost function? A linear
these questions encourage revenue function? A linear profit function?
students to explain learned
concepts in their own words.
2.5 Exercises
Exercises In Exercises 1–10, determine whether the equation In Exercises 15–20, find the point of intersection of each
Each exercise section contains an defines y as a linear function of x. If so, write it in the pair of straight lines.
form y ⴝ mx ⴙ b. 15. y ⫽ 3 x ⫹ 4 16. y ⫽ ⫺4x ⫺ 7
ample set of problems of a 1. 2x ⫹ 3y ⫽ 6 2. ⫺2x ⫹ 4y ⫽ 7 y ⫽ ⫺2 x ⫹ 14 ⫺y ⫽ 5x ⫹ 10
routine computational nature 3. x ⫽ 2y ⫺ 4 4. 2x ⫽ 3y ⫹ 8
17. 2x ⫺ 3y ⫽ 6 18. 2 x ⫹ 4y ⫽ 11
followed by an extensive set of 5. 2x ⫺ 4y ⫹ 9 ⫽ 0 6. 3x ⫺ 6y ⫹ 7 ⫽ 0 3x ⫹ 6y ⫽ 16 ⫺5x ⫹ 3y ⫽ 5
application-oriented problems. 7. 2 x 2 ⫺ 8y ⫹ 4 ⫽ 0 8. 3 1x ⫹ 4y ⫽ 0 1 2
19. y⫽ x⫺5 20. y ⫽ x⫺4
9. 2x ⫺ 3y2 ⫹ 8 ⫽ 0 10. 2x ⫹ 1y ⫺ 4 ⫽ 0 4 3
3 x ⫹ 3y ⫹ 3 ⫽ 0
11. A manufacturer has a monthly fixed cost of $40,000 and a 2x ⫺ y ⫽ 1
production cost of $8 for each unit produced. The product 2
sells for $12/unit.
 PREFACE xvii

Using Technology
USING Finding the Accumulated Amount of an Investment,
These optional features appear after the TECHNOLOGY the Effective Rate of Interest, and the Present Value
section exercises. They can be used in of an Investment
the classroom if desired or as material Graphing Utility
Some graphing utilities have built-in routines for solving problems involving the
for self-study by the student. Here, the mathematics of finance. For example, the TI-83/84 TVM SOLVER function incorporates
graphing calculator and Microsoft Excel several functions that can be used to solve the problems that are encountered in Sec-
tions 4.1–4.3. To access the TVM SOLVER on the TI-83 press 2nd , press FINANCE ,
2003 are used as a tool to solve and then select 1: TVM Solver . To access the TVM Solver on the TI-83 plus and the
problems. (Instructions for Microsoft TI-84, press APPS , press 1: Finance , and then select 1: TVM Solver . Step-by-step
procedures for using these functions can be found on our Companion Web site.
Excel 2007 are given at the Companion
EXAMPLE 1 Finding the Accumulated Amount of an Investment Find the
Website.) These sections are written in accumulated amount after 10 years if $5000 is invested at a rate of 10% per year
the traditional example–exercise format, compounded monthly.
with answers given at the back of the Solution Using the TI-83/84 TVM SOLVER with the following inputs,
book. Illustrations showing graphing N = 120 N ⫽ 120 (10)(12)
I% = 10
calculator screens are extensively used. PV = −5000 I% ⫽ 10
PMT = 0 PV ⫽ ⫺5000 Recall that an investment is an outflow.
In keeping with the theme of motivation FV = 13535.20745
P/Y = 12 PMT ⫽ 0
through real-life examples, many C/Y = 12
PMT : END BEGIN FV ⫽ 0
sourced applications are again included. P/Y ⫽ 12 The number of payments each year
FIGURE T1 C/Y ⫽ 12 The number of conversion periods each year
Students can construct their own models The TI-83/84 screen showing the future
value (FV) of an investment PMT:END BEGIN
using real-life data in many of the Using we obtain the display shown in Figure T1. We conclude that the required accumu-
Technology sections. These include lated amount is $13,535.21.
models for the growth of the Indian EXAMPLE 2 Finding the Effective Rate of Interest Find the effective rate of
Excel
Eff (10, 4)
gaming industry, TIVO owners, nicotine 10.38128906 interest corresponding to a nominal rate of 10% per year compounded quarterly.
Excel has many built-in functions for solving problems involving the mathematics of
content of cigarettes, computer security, SolutiontheHere
finance. Here we illustrate useweof use FVEff(future
thethe functionvalue),
of the TI-83/84
EFFECT calculator to obtain
(effective the
rate),
result shown in Figure T2. The required effective rate is approximately 10.38% per
and online gaming, among others. and the PV (presentyear.
value) functions to solve problems of the type that we have
encountered in Section 4.1.
EXAMPLE 3 Finding the Present Value of an Investment Find the present
FIGURE T2
EXAMPLE 4 Findingvalue the
The TI-83/84 screen showing the effec-
Accumulated
of $20,000 Amount
due in 5 years of an
if the interest rateInvestment
is 7.5% per year compounded
Find the
accumulated amountdaily.
tive rate of interest (Eff) after 10 years if $5000 is invested at a rate of 10% per year
compounded monthly.l i Ui h TI 83/84 i h h f ll i i

Exploring with Technology

Exploring with
Designed to explore mathematical concepts and TECHNOLOGY
to shed further light on examples in the text,
In the opening paragraph of Section 3.1, we pointed out that the accumulated
these optional questions appear throughout the amount of an account earning interest compounded continuously will eventually
main body of the text and serve to enhance the outgrow by far the accumulated amount of an account earning interest at the
student’s understanding of the concepts and same nominal rate but earning simple interest. Illustrate this fact using the fol-
lowing example.
theory presented. Often the solution of an
example in the text is augmented with a Suppose you deposit $1000 in account I, earning interest at the rate of 10%
per year compounded continuously so that the accumulated amount at the end
graphical or numerical solution. Complete of t years is A1(t) ⫽ 1000e0.1t. Suppose you also deposit $1000 in account II,
solutions to these exercises are given in the earning simple interest at the rate of 10% per year so that the accumulated
Instructor’s Solutions Manual. amount at the end of t years is A2(t) ⫽ 1000(1 ⫹ 0.1t). Use a graphing utility
to sketch the graphs of the functions A1 and A2 in the viewing window
[0, 20] ⫻ [0, 10,000] to see the accumulated amounts A1(t) and A2(t) over a
20-year period.
xviii PREFACE

Summary of Principal CHAPTER 5 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms

Formulas and Terms FORMULAS
Each review section begins with the Sum- 1. Laws for matrix addition
a. Commutative law A⫹B⫽B⫹A
mary highlighting important equations and
b. Associative law (A ⫹ B) ⫹ C ⫽ A ⫹ (B ⫹ C )
terms with page numbers given for quick 2. Laws for matrix multiplication
review. a. Associative law (AB)C ⫽ A(BC )
b. Distributive law A(B ⫹ C ) ⫽ AB ⫹ AC
3. Inverse of a 2 ⫻ 2 matrix
A⫽ c d
a b
If
c d

and D ⫽ ad ⫺ bc ⫽ 0
1 ⫺b
c d
d
then A⫺1 ⫽
D ⫺c a

4. Solution of system AX ⫽ B X ⫽ A⫺1B

(A nonsingular)

TERMS
system of linear equations (242) augmented matrix (252) square matrix (276)
solution of a system of linear equations row-reduced form of a matrix (253) transpose of a matrix (280)
(242) row operations (254) scalar (280)
parameter (243) unit column (254) scalar product (280)
dependent system (244) pivoting (255) matrix product (288)
inconsistent system (244) size of a matrix (276) identity matrix (291)
Gauss–Jordan elimination method (250) matrix (276) inverse of a matrix (302)
equivalent system (250) row matrix (276) nonsingular matrix (302)
coefficient matrix (252) column matrix (276) singular matrix (302)

Concept Review Questions CHAPTER 5 Concept Review Questions

These questions give students a chance to Fill in the blanks. b. A system of linear equations with at least as many equa-
1. a. Two lines in the plane can intersect at (a) exactly _____ tions as variables may have _____ solution, _____
check their knowledge of the basic defini- point, (b) infinitely _____ points, or (c) _____ point. _____ solutions, or a _____ solution.
b. A system of two linear equations in two variables can
tions and concepts given in each chapter. have (a) exactly _____ solution, (b) infinitely _____
5. Two matrices are equal provided they have the same _____
and their corresponding _____ are equal.
solutions, or (c) _____ solution.
6. Two matrices may be added (subtracted) if they both have
2. To find the point(s) of intersection of two lines, we solve the same _____. To add or subtract two matrices, we add
the system of _____ describing the two lines. or subtract their _____ entries.
3. The row operations used in the Gauss–Jordan elimination 7. The transpose of a/an _____ matrix with elements aij is the
method are denoted by _____, _____, and _____. The use matrix of size _____ with entries _____.

Review Exercises
of each of these operations does not alter the of the
CHAPTER 5 Review Exercises
Offering a solid review of the chapter In Exercises 1–4, perform the operations if possible. 9. 2 A ⫹ 3B 10. 3A ⫺ 2 B
material, the Review Exercises contain 1 2 1 0 11. 2(3A) 12. 2(3A ⫺ 4B)
1. £ ⫺1 3§ ⫹ £0 1§
routine computational exercises followed 2 1 1 2 13. A(B ⫺ C) 14. AB ⫹ AC

by applied problems. ⫺1 2 1 2
1
1CA ⫺ CB2
2. c d ⫺ c d
15. A(BC ) 16.
2
3 4 5 ⫺2
2 1 In Exercises 17–24, solve the system of linear equations
3. 3 ⫺3 14 £ ⫺1 0§
using the Gauss–Jordan elimination method.
2
2 1 17. 2x ⫺ 3y ⫽ 5 18. 3x ⫹ 2y ⫽ 3
3x ⫹ 4y ⫽ ⫺1 2x ⫺ 4y ⫽ ⫺14
1
1 3 2
4. c d £4§
19. x ⫺ y ⫹ 2z ⫽ 5 20. 3x ⫺ 2y ⫹ 4z ⫽ 16
⫺1 2 3 3x ⫹ 2y ⫹ z ⫽ 10 2x ⫹ y ⫺ 2z ⫽ ⫺1
2
2x ⫺ 3y ⫺ 2z ⫽ ⫺10 x ⫹ 4y ⫺ 8z ⫽ ⫺18
Before Moving On . . . CHAPTER 5 Before Moving On . . .

Found at the end of each chapter review, 1. Solve the following system of linear equations, using the 4. Let
Gauss–Jordan elimination method: 1 ⫺1 2
these exercises give students a chance to 1 ⫺2 4
2x ⫹ y ⫺ z ⫽ ⫺1 A⫽ c d B ⫽ £3 1 ⫺1 §
see if they have mastered the basic 3 0 1
x ⫹ 3y ⫹ 2z ⫽ 2 2 1 0

computational skills developed in each 3x ⫹ 3y ⫺ 3z ⫽ ⫺5 2 ⫺2

C ⫽ £1 1§
chapter. If they solve a problem 2. Find the solution(s), if it exists, of the system of linear 3 4
equations whose augmented matrix in reduced form fol-
incorrectly, they can go to the Companion lows. Find (a) AB, (b) (A ⫹ CT )B, and (c) CTB ⫺ ABT.

Website and try again. In fact, they can 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 5. Find A⫺1 if

a. £ 0 1 0 † ⫺3 § b. £ 0 1 0 † 0§
keep on trying until they get it right. If 2 1 2
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
A ⫽ £0 ⫺1 3§
students need step-by-step help, they can 1 0 0 2
1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
0 1 0 0 0
use the CengageNOW Tutorials that are c. £ 0 1 3 † 1§ d. ≥ ∞ ¥ 6. Solve the system
0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0
keyed to the text and work out similar 0 0 0 1 0 2x ⫹z⫽ 4

problems at their own pace.

 PREFACE xix

Explore & Discuss

These optional questions can be
Explore & Discuss
1. Consider a system composed of two linear equations in two variables. Can the sys-
discussed in class or assigned as tem have exactly two solutions? Exactly three solutions? Exactly a finite number of
homework. These questions generally solutions?
require more thought and effort than the 2. Suppose at least one of the equations in a system composed of two equations in two vari-
usual exercises. They may also be used ables is nonlinear. Can the system have no solution? Exactly one solution? Exactly two
solutions? Exactly a finite number of solutions? Infinitely many solutions? Illustrate each
to add a writing component to the class
answer with a sketch.
or as team projects. Complete solutions
to these exercises are given in the
Instructor’s Solutions Manual.

Portfolios PORTFOLIO Deb Farace

The real-life experiences of a
TITLE Sr. National Accounts Manager
variety of professionals who use INSTITUTION PepsiCo Beverages & Foods
mathematics in the workplace are
related in these interviews. Among W orking for the national
accounts division for PepsiCo Bev-
ables can impact last-minute decision making. Extended
variables of supply-and-demand include time of year, com-
those interviewed are a senior erages & Foods, I need to under- petitive landscape, special coupon distribution and other
account manager at PepsiCo and stand applied mathematics in promotions, selling cycles and holidays, size of the outlets,
order to control the variables associated with making a and yes—even the weather.
an associate on Wall Street who profit, manufacturing, production, and most importantly For example, it’s natural to assume that when it’s hot
uses statistics and calculus in selling our products to mass club channels. Examples of outside people will buy more thirst-quenching products like
these large, “quality product at great value” outlets are Gatorade. But since our business is so precise, we need to
writing options. Wal*Mart, Costco and Target. The types of products I handle understand mathematically how the weather affects sales.
include Gatorade, Tropicana, and Quaker foods. A mathematical model developed by Gatorade analyzes
Our studies show that the grocery store channels’ sales long-term data that impact sales by geographic market due
are flattening or declining as a whole in lieu of large, to the weather. Its findings include exponentially increased
national outlets like the above. So in order to maximize sales of Gatorade for each degree above 90 degrees.
growth in this segment of our business, I meet with regional I share our mathematical analysis like
buying offices of these chains and discuss various packag- this study with buyers and negotiate
ing, pricing, product, promotional and shipping options so larger orders based on up-to-the-

© kolvenbach/Alamy
that we can successfully compete in the market. minute weather forecasts. The result:
A number of factors must be taken into consideration in increased sales of product based on
order to meet my company’s financial forecasts. Precision math.
using mathematical models is key here, since so many vari-

Example Videos APPLIED EXAMPLE 3 Consumer Surveys In a survey of 100 coffee

Available through the Online drinkers, it was found that 70 take sugar, 60 take cream, and 50 take both
sugar and cream with their coffee. How many coffee drinkers take sugar or cream
Resource Center and Enhanced
with their coffee?
WebAssign, these video
examples offer hours of Solution Let U denote the set of 100 coffee drinkers surveyed, and let
instruction from award-winning A ⫽ {x 僆 U 0 x takes sugar}
teacher Deborah Upton of B ⫽ {x 僆 U 0 x takes cream}
Stonehill College. Watch as she Then, n(A) ⫽ 70, n(B) ⫽ 60, and n(A 傽 B) ⫽ 50. The set of coffee drinkers who
walks students through key take sugar or cream with their coffee is given by A 傼 B. Using Equation (4), we find
examples from the text, step by n(A 傼 B) ⫽ n(A) ⫹ n(B) ⫺ n(A 傽 B)
step—giving them a foundation in the ⫽ 70 ⫹ 60 ⫺ 50 ⫽ 80
skills that they need to know. Each
Thus, 80 out of the 100 coffee drinkers surveyed take cream or sugar with their
example available online is identified coffee.
by the video icon located in the margin.
xx PREFACE

TEACHING AIDS
INSTRUCTOR’S SOLUTIONS MANUAL (ISBN 0-495-55998-9) by Soo T. Tan
The complete solutions manual provides worked out solutions to all problems in the text,
as well as “Exploring with Technology” and “Explore & Discuss” questions.

POWERLECTURE (ISBN 0-495-56002-2)

This comprehensive CD-ROM includes the Instructor’s Solutions Manual, PowerPoint
Slides, and ExamView® Computerized Testing featuring algorithmically generated ques-
tions to create, deliver, and customize tests.

ENHANCED WEBASSIGN
Instant feedback and ease of use are just two reasons why WebAssign is the most widely
used homework system in higher education. WebAssign allows you to assign, collect,
grade, and record homework assignments via the Web. Now this proven homework
system has been enhanced to include links to textbook sections, video examples, and
problem-specific tutorials. Enhanced WebAssign is more than a homework system—it is
a complete learning system for math students.

LEARNING AIDS
STUDENT SOLUTIONS MANUAL (ISBN 0-495-55997-0) by Soo T. Tan
Giving you more in-depth explanations, this insightful resource includes fully worked-out
solutions for the answers to select exercises included at the back of the textbook, as well
as problem-solving strategies, additional algebra steps, and review for selected problems.

ONLINE RESOURCE CENTER (ISBN 0-495-56037-5)

Sign in, save time, and get the grade you want! One code will give you access to great tools
for Applied Mathematics for the Managerial, Life, and Social Sciences, Fifth Edition.
It includes Personal Tutor (online tutoring with an expert that offers help right now)
and access to new Solution Videos on the password-protected Premium Website.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express my personal appreciation to each of the following reviewers of the Fifth
Edition, whose many suggestions have helped make a much improved book.
Paul Abraham Andrew Diener
Kent State University—Stark Christian Brothers University
James Adair Mike Everett
Missouri Valley College Santa Ana College
Jill Britton Kevin Ferland
Camosun College Bloomsburg University
Debra D. Bryant Tao Guo
Tennessee Technological University Rock Valley College
Michelle Dedeo Mark Jacobson
University of North Florida Montana State University—Billings
Scott L. Dennison Sarah Kilby
University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh North Country Community College
Christine Devena Murray Lieb
Miles Community College New Jersey Institute of Technology
 PREFACE xxi

Lia Liu Brian Rodas

University of Illinois at Chicago Santa Monica College
Rebecca Lynn Dr. Arthur Rosenthal
Colorado State University Salem State College
Mary T. McMahon Abdelrida Saleh
North Central College Miami Dade College
Daniela Mihai Stephanie Anne Salomone
University of Pittsburgh University of Portland
Kathy Nickell Mohammad Siddique
College of DuPage Virginia Union University
Carol Overdeep Jennifer Strehler
Saint Martin’s University Oakton Community College
Mohammed Rajah Ray Toland
Miracosta College Clarkson University
Dennis H. Risher Justin Wyss-Gallifent
Loras College University of Maryland at College Park

I also thank the previous edition reviewers whose comments and suggestions have
greatly shaped the current edition.
Faiz Al-Rubaee Joyce Longman
University of North Florida Villanova University
Jose F. Alvarado C. D. Luning
University of Texas, Pan American Sam Houston State University
Ronald Barnes Joseph Macaluso
University of Houston DeSales University
Larry Blaine Donald K. Mason
Plymouth State College Elmhurst College
Albert Bronstein Dean Moore
Purdue University Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Kimberly Jordan Burch Marna Mozeff
Montclair State University Drexel University
Peter Casazza James Olsen
University of Missouri—Columbia North Dakota State University
J. Curtis Chipman Wayne B. Powell
Oakland University Oklahoma State University
Lisa Cox Deborah Primm
Texas A&M University Jacksonville State University
Candy Giovanni Virginia Puckett
Michigan State University Miami Dade College
Harvey Greenwald Geetha Ramachandran
California Polytechnic State University— California State University, Sacramento
San Luis Obispo Mary E. Rerick
Mohammed Kazemi University of North Dakota
University of North Carolina—Charlotte Allan Silberger
Rasul Khan Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University Mehrdad Simkani
Daniel Lee University of Michigan, Flint
Southwest Texas State University Anne Siswanto
Jeffrey Lee East Los Angeles College
Texas Tech University
xxii PREFACE

Laurence Small Joyce Vilseck

L. A. Pierce College Texas A&M University, Kingston
Ray Stanton Hiroko K. Warshauer
Fresno City College Texas State University—San Marcos
Michael Sterner Jennifer Whitfield
University of Montevallo Texas A&M University
Giovanni Viglino Hing-Sing Yu
Ramapo College of New Jersey University of Texas, San Antonio

I also wish to thank Jerrold Grossman and Tao Guo for their many helpful suggestions
for improving the text. A special thanks goes to Jill Britton for contributing some of the
new linear programming problems for this edition. I also thank the editorial, production,
and marketing staffs of Cengage Learning: Carolyn Crockett, Danielle Derbenti, Catie
Ronquillo, Rebecca Dashiell, Jeannine Lawless, Cheryll Linthicum, Ashley Pickering,
Joe Rogove, Angela Kim, and Sam Subity for all of their help and support during the
development and production of this edition. I also thank Martha Emry and Betty Duncan
who both did an excellent job of ensuring the accuracy and readability of this edition. Sim-
ply stated, the team I have been working with is outstanding, and I truly appreciate all their
hard work and efforts. Finally, a special thanks to the mathematicians—Chris Shannon and
Mark van der Lann at UC Berkeley, Peter Blair Henry at Stanford, Jonathan D. Farley at
Cal Tech, and Navin Khaneja at Harvard—for taking time off from their busy schedules
to describe how mathematics is used in their research. Their pictures and applications of
their research appear on the covers of my applied mathematics series.
S. T. Tan
 A BOUT THE A UTHOR
SOO T. TAN received his S.B. degree from Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, his M.S. degree from the University of
Wisconsin–Madison, and his Ph.D. from the University of California
at Los Angeles. He has published numerous papers in Optimal
Control Theory, Numerical Analysis, and Mathematics of Finance. He
is currently Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Stonehill College.

By the time I started writing the first of what turned out to be a series of textbooks in
mathematics for students in the managerial, life, and social sciences, I had quite a few
years of experience teaching mathematics to non-mathematics majors. One of the most
important lessons I learned from my early experience teaching these courses is that many
of the students come into these courses with some degree of apprehension. This aware-
ness led to the intuitive approach I have adopted in all of my texts. As you will see, I try to
introduce each abstract mathematical concept through an example drawn from a com-
mon, real-life experience. Once the idea has been conveyed, I then proceed to make it
precise, thereby assuring that no mathematical rigor is lost in this intuitive treatment of
the subject. Another lesson I learned from my students is that they have a much greater
appreciation of the material if the applications are drawn from their fields of interest and
from situations that occur in the real world. This is one reason you will see so many exer-
cises in my texts that are modeled on data gathered from newspapers, magazines, jour-
nals, and other media. Whether it be the market for cholesterol-reducing drugs, financing
a home, bidding for cable rights, broadband Internet households, or Starbucks’ annual
sales, I weave topics of current interest into my examples and exercises to keep the book
relevant to all of my readers.
This page intentionally left blank
 FUNDAMENTALS
OF ALGEBRA 1
T HIS CHAPTER CONTAINS a brief review of the algebra you

will use in this course. In the process of solving many

practical problems, you will need to solve algebraic equations.

You will also need to simplify algebraic expressions. This chapter

also contains a short review of inequalities and absolute value;

their uses range from describing the domains of functions to

formulating practical problems. © AEP/Alamy

Based on current projections for the

gross domestic product (GDP) of a
certain country, when will the GDP of
the country first equal or exceed
$58 billion? In Example 7, page 57,
we will learn how to solve this
problem.
2 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

1.1 Real Numbers

The Set of Real Numbers
We use real numbers every day to describe various quantities such as temperature,
salary, annual percentage rate, shoe size, grade point average, and so on. Some of the
symbols we use to represent real numbers are
3, 17, 22, 0.666. . . , 113, 3.9, 0.12875
To construct the set of real numbers, we start with the set of natural numbers
(also called counting numbers)
N  {1, 2, 3, . . .}
and adjoin other numbers to it. The set
W  {0, 1, 2, 3, . . .}
of whole numbers is obtained by adjoining the single number 0 to N. By adjoining
the negatives of the natural numbers to the set W, we obtain the set of integers
I  {. . . , 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .}
Next, we consider the set Q of rational numbers, numbers of the form ab, where
a and b are integers, with b  0. Using set notation, we write
Q  {ab  a and b are integers, b  0}
Observe that I is contained in Q since each integer may be written in the form ab, with
b  1. For example, the integer 6 may be written in the form 61. Symbolically, we
express the fact that I is contained in Q by writing
IQ
23
However, Q is not contained in I since fractions such as 12 and 25 are not integers. To
show the relationships of the sets N, W, I, and Q, we write
NWIQ
This says that N is a proper subset of W, W is a proper subset of I, and so on.*
Finally, we obtain the set of real numbers by adjoining the set of rational numbers
to the set of irrational numbers (Ir)—numbers that cannot be expressed in the form
b , where a, b are integers (b  0). Examples of irrational numbers are 22, 23, ␲,
a

and so on. Thus, the set

R  Q  Ir
comprising all rational numbers and irrational numbers is called the set of real num-
bers. (See Figure 1.)

Q Ir Q = Rationals
I = Integers
W W = Whole numbers
N N = Natural numbers
FIGURE 1
Ir = Irrationals
The set of all real numbers consists of
the set of rational numbers plus the set
of irrational numbers.

*A set A is a proper subset of a set B if every element of a set A is also an element of a set B and there exists at least one ele-
ment in B that is not in A.
 1.1 REAL NUMBERS 3

Representing Real Numbers as Decimals

Every real number can be written as a decimal. A rational number can be represented
as either a repeating or terminating decimal. For example, 32 is represented by the
repeating decimal
0.66666666. . . Repeating decimal—note that the integer 6 repeats.

which may also be written 0.6, where the bar above the 6 indicates that the 6 repeats
indefinitely. The number 12 is represented by the terminating decimal
0.5 Terminating decimal

When an irrational number is represented as a decimal, it neither terminates nor

repeats. For example,
22  1.41421. . . and ␲  3.14159. . .
Table 1 summarizes this classification of real numbers.

TABLE 1
The Set of Real Numbers
Set Description Examples Decimal Representation

Natural numbers Counting numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . Terminating decimals

Whole numbers Counting numbers and 0 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . Terminating decimals
Integers Natural numbers, their nega- . . . , 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, Terminating decimals
tives, and 0 3, . . .
Rational numbers Numbers that can be written 3, 43, 0.222 , 0, 56, Terminating or
in the form ab, where a and 2, 4.3111  repeating decimals
b are integers and b ⬆ 0
Irrational numbers Numbers that cannot be writ- 22, 23, ␲ Nonterminating, non-
ten in the form ab, where a 1.414213. . . , repeating decimals
and b are integers and b ⬆ 0 1.732050. . .
Real numbers Rational and irrational All of the above All types of decimals
numbers

Representing Real Numbers on a Number Line

Real numbers may be represented geometrically by points on a line. This real num-
ber, or coordinate, line is constructed as follows: Arbitrarily select a point on a
straight line to represent the number 0. This point is called the origin. If the line is hor-
izontal, then choose a point at a convenient distance to the right of the origin to rep-
resent the number 1. This determines the scale for the number line.
The point representing each positive real number x lies x units to the right of 0,
and the point representing each negative real number x lies x units to the left
of 0. Thus, real numbers may be represented by points on a line in such a way that cor-
responding to each real number there is exactly one point on a line, and vice versa. In
this way, a one-to-one correspondence is set up between the set of real numbers and
the set of points on the number line, with all the positive numbers lying to the right of
the origin and all the negative numbers lying to the left of the origin (Figure 2).

Origin

Negative direction

x
–4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4
FIGURE 2
The real number line  2 1
2
3 
4 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

Operations with Real Numbers

Two real numbers may be combined to obtain a real number. The operation of addition,
written , enables us to combine any two numbers a and b to obtain their sum, denoted
by a  b. Another operation, multiplication, written , enables us to combine any two real
numbers a and b to form their product, the number a  b (more simply written ab). These
two operations are subject to the rules of operation given in Table 2.

TABLE 2
Rules of Operation for Real Numbers
Rule Illustration

Under addition
1. a  b  b  a Commutative law of addition 2332
2. a  (b  c)  (a  b)  c Associative law of addition 4  (2  3)  (4  2)  3
3. a  0  a Identity law of addition 606
4. a  (a)  0 Inverse law of addition 5  (5)  0
Under multiplication
1. ab  ba Commutative law of multiplication 3223
2. a(bc)  (ab)c Associative law of multiplication 4(3  2)  (4  3)2
3. a  1  1  a Identity law of multiplication 4114

4. a a b  1 3a b  1
1 1
(a  0) Inverse law of multiplication
a 3
Under addition and multiplication
1. a(b  c)  ab  ac Distributive law for multiplication with respect to addition 3(4  5)  3  4  3  5

The operation of subtraction is defined in terms of addition. Thus,

a  (b)
where b is the additive inverse of b, may be written in the more familiar form
a  b, and we say that b is subtracted from a. Similarly, the operation of division is
defined in terms of multiplication. Recall that the multiplicative inverse of a nonzero
real number b is 1b, also written b1. Then,

aa b
1
b
is written ab, and we say that a is divided by b. Thus, 4 1 13 2  43. Remember, zero does
not have a multiplicative inverse since division by zero is not defined.
Do the operations of associativity and commutativity hold for subtraction and
division? Looking first at associativity, we see that the answer is no since
a  (b  c)  (a  b)  c 7  (4  2)  (7  4)  2, or 5  1

and
a  (b  c)  (a  b)  c 8  (4  2)  (8  4)  2, or 4  1

Similarly, commutativity does not hold because

abba 7  4  4  7, or 3  3

and
1
abba 8  4  4  8, or 2 
2
 1.1 REAL NUMBERS 5

EXAMPLE 1 State the real number property that justifies each statement.
Statement Property
a. 4  (x  2)  4  (2  x) Commutative law of addition
b. (a  2b)  c  a  (2b  c) Associative law of addition
c. x( y  z  2)  ( y  z  2)x Commutative law of multiplication
d. 4(xy2)  (4x)y2 Associative law of multiplication
e. x( y  2)  xy  2x Distributive law for multiplication
under addition

Using the properties of real numbers listed earlier, we can derive all other alge-
braic properties of real numbers. Some of the more important properties are given in
Tables 3–5.

TABLE 3
Properties of Negatives
Property Illustration

1. (a)  a (6)  6
2. (a)b  (ab)  a(b) (3)4  (3  4)  3(4)
3. (a)(b)  ab (3)(4)  3  4
4. (1)a  a (1)5  5

TABLE 4 TABLE 5
Properties Involving Zero Properties of Quotients
Property Property Illustration

1. a  0  0 a c 3 9
1.  if ad  bc (b, d  0)  because 3  12  9  4
2. If ab  0, then a  0, b d 4 12
b  0, or both. ca a 4 # 3 3
 (b, c  0) 
2.
cb b #
4 8 8
a a a 4 4 4
3.   (b  0)  
b b b 3 3 3
a # c ac 3 # 5 15
4.  (b, d  0) 
b d bd 4 2 8

  #    # 
a c a d ad 3 5 3 2 3
5. (b, c, d  0)
b d b c bc 4 2 4 5 10
a c ad  bc 3 5 3 # 24 # 5 13
6.   (b, d  0)   
b d bd 4 2 8 4
a c ad  bc 3 5 #
3 24 5 # 7
7.   (b, d  0)   
b d bd 4 2 8 4

Note In the rest of this book, we will assume that all variables are restricted so that
division by zero is excluded.
6 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

EXAMPLE 2 State the real number property that justifies each statement.
Statement Property
a. (4)  4 Property 1 of negatives
1
b. If (4x  1)(x  3)  0, then x  or x  3. Property 2 of zero properties
4
1x  1 2 1x  1 2 x1

1x  1 2 1x  3 2
c. Property 2 of quotients
x3
x1 y1 x1 # x x1x  1 2
  
y1y  1 2
d. Property 5 of quotients
y x y y1
x x x1y  1 2  xy
 
y1y  1 2
e. Property 6 of quotients
y y1
xy  x  xy 2xy  x
 
y1y  1 2 y1y  1 2
Distributive law

1.1 Self-Check Exercises

State the property (or properties) that justify each statement. 3. (s  t)  s  t

1. (3√  2)  w  3√  (2  w) 2 2
4. 
1u  √2 u√
2. (3s)(4t)  3[s(4t)]
Solutions to Self-Check Exercises 1.1 can be found on page 7.

1.1 Concept Questions

1. What is a natural number? A whole number? An integer? A 3. What can you say about a and b if ab ⬆ 0? How about a, b,
rational number? An irrational number? A real number? and c if abc ⬆ 0?
Give examples of each.
2. a. The associative law of addition states that
a  (b  c)  .
b. The distributive law states that ab  ac  .

1.1 Exercises
In Exercises 1–10, classify the number as to type. (For In Exercises 11–16, indicate whether the statement is
example, 12 is rational and real, whereas 25 is irrational true or false.
and real.) 11. Every integer is a whole number.
3 4
1. 3 2. 420 3. 4.  12. Every integer is a rational number.
8 125
13. Every natural number is an integer.
p 2
5. 211 6.  25 7. 8.
2 p 14. Every rational number is a real number.

21
9. 2.4 10. 2.71828. . . 15. Every natural number is an irrational number.
16. Every irrational number is a real number.
 1.2 POLYNOMIALS 7

In Exercises 17–36, state the real number property that 12x  12 1x  32 2x  1


12x  12 1x  32
justifies the statement. 32.
2x  1
17. (2x  y)  z  z  (2x  y)
ab ab a1a  b2
18. 3x  (2y  z)  (3x  2y)  z 33.  
b ab ab
19. u(3√  w)  (3√  w)u
x  2y x  2y 213x  y 2 21x  2y 2
34. 
x
 # 
20. a2(b2c)  (a2b2)c 3x  y 6x  2y 3x  y x x
21. u(2√  w)  2u√  uw a c ab  bc  c 2
35.  
22. (2u  √)w  2uw  √w bc b b1b  c2

23. (2x  3y)  (x  4y)  2x  [3y  (x  4y)] xy y x2  y

36.  
x1 x x1x  12
24. (a  2b)(a  3b)  a(a  3b)  2b(a  3b)
25. a  [(c  d )]  a  (c  d) In Exercises 37–42, indicate whether the statement is
true or false.
26. (2x  y)[(3x  2y)]  (2x  y)(3x  2y)
37. If ab  1, then a  1 or b  1.
27. 0(2a  3b)  0
38. If ab  0 and a  0, then b  0.
28. If (x  y)(x  y)  0, then x  y or x  y.
39. a  b  b  a
29. If (x  2)(2x  5)  0, then x  2 or x  52 .
40. a  b  b  a
30. If x(2x  9)  0, then x  0 or x  92 .
41. (a  b)  c  a  (b  c)
1x  1 2 1x  3 2 x1
 42. a  (b  c)  (a  b)  c
12x  1 2 1x  32
31.
2x  1

1.1 Solutions to Self-Check Exercises

a a a
1. Associative law of addition: a  (b  c)  (a  b)  c 4. Property 3 of quotients:  
b b b
2. Associative law of multiplication: a(bc)  (ab)c
3. Distributive law for multiplication: a(b  c)  ab  ac
Properties 1 and 4 of negatives: (a)  a; (1)a  a

1.2 Polynomials
Exponents
Expressions such as 25, (3)2, and 1 14 2 4 are exponential expressions. More generally,
if n is a natural number and a is a real number, then an represents the product of the
real number a and itself n times.

Exponential Notation
If a is a real number and n is a natural number, then
an  a  a  a  . . .  a 34  3  3  3  3
 
n factors 4 factors

The natural number n is called the exponent, and the real number a is called the
base.
8 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

EXAMPLE 1
a. 44  (4)(4)(4)(4)  256
b. (5)3  (5)(5)(5)  125

c. a b  a b a b a b 
1 3 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 8

d. a b  a b a b 
2
1 1 1 1
3 3 3 9
When we evaluate expressions such as 32  33, we use the following property of expo-
nents to write the product in exponential form.

Property 1
If m and n are natural numbers and a is any real number, then
a m  a n  a mn 32  33  323  35

To verify that Property 1 follows from the definition of an exponential expression, we

note that the total number of factors in the exponential expression
am  an  a  a  a      a  aaaa
 
m factors n factors
is m  n.

EXAMPLE 2
a. 32  33  323  35  243
b. (2)2  (2)5  (2)25  (2)7  128
c. (3x)  (3x)3  (3x)13  (3x)4  81x 4

Be careful to apply the exponent to the indicated base only. Note that
— The exponent applies to 4x.
앗
4  x  4x  (4x)2  42  x 2  16x 2
2 2

앖—
The exponent applies only to the base x.

and
— The exponent applies to 3.
앗
32  9  (3)2  9
앖—
The exponent applies only to the base 3.

Polynomials
Recall that a variable is a letter that is used to represent any element of a given set.
However, unless specified otherwise, variables in this text will represent real numbers.
Sometimes physical considerations impose restrictions on the values a variable may
assume. For example, if the variable x denotes the number of television sets sold daily
in an appliance store, then x must be a nonnegative integer. At other times, restrictions
must be imposed on x in order for an expression to make sense. For example, in the
expression x 1 2, x cannot take on the value 2 since division by 0 is not permitted.
We call the set of all real numbers that a variable is allowed to assume the domain of
the variable.
 1.2 POLYNOMIALS 9

In contrast to a variable, a constant is a fixed number or letter whose value

remains fixed throughout a particular discussion. For example, in the expression 12 tt2,
which gives the distance in feet covered by a free-falling body near the surface of
Earth, t seconds from rest, the letter t represents the constant of acceleration due to
gravity (approximately 32 feet/second/second), whereas the letter t is a variable with
domain consisting of nonnegative real numbers.
By combining constants and variables through the use of addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, exponentiation, and root extraction, we obtain algebraic
expressions. Examples of algebraic expressions are
1 ax  b 3xy2  p
3x  4y 2x 2  y 
xy 1  x2 x2  y2  z2
where a and b are constants and x, y, and z are variables. Intimidating as some of these
expressions might be, remember that they are just real numbers. For example, if x  1
and y  4, then the second expression represents the number
1
2(1)2  4 
112 142
or 74, obtained by replacing x and y in the expression by the appropriate values.
Polynomials are an important class of algebraic expressions. The simplest poly-
nomials are those involving one variable.

Polynomial in One Variable

A polynomial in x is an expression of the form
an x n  an1x n1      a1x  a0
where n is a nonnegative integer and a0, a1, . . . , an are real numbers, with
an  0.

The expressions ak x k in the sum are called the terms of the polynomial. The numbers
a0, a1, . . . , an are called the coefficients of 1, x, x 2, . . . , x n, respectively. The coeffi-
cient an of x n (the highest power in x) is called the leading coefficient of the polyno-
mial. The nonnegative integer n gives the degree of the polynomial. For example, con-
sider the polynomial
2x 5  8x 3  6x 2  3x  1

1. The terms of the polynomial are 2x 5, 8x 3, 6x 2, 3x, and 1.

2. The coefficients of 1, x, x 2, x 3, x 4, and x 5 are 1, 3, 6, 8, 0, and 2, respectively.
3. The leading coefficient of the polynomial is 2.
4. The degree of the polynomial is 5.

A polynomial having just one term (such as 2x 3) is called a monomial; a polyno-

mial having exactly two terms (such as x 3  x) is called a binomial; and a polynomial
having only three terms (such as 2x 3  x  8) is called a trinomial. Also, a poly-
nomial consisting of one (constant) term a0 (such as the monomial 8) is called a con-
stant polynomial. Observe that the degree of a constant polynomial a0, with a0  0, is
0 because we can write a0  a0 x 0 and see that n  0 in this situation. If all the coef-
ficients of a polynomial are 0, it is called the zero polynomial and is denoted by 0. The
zero polynomial is not assigned a degree.
10 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

Most of the terminology used for a polynomial in one variable carries over to the
discussion of polynomials in several variables. But the degree of a term in a polyno-
mial in several variables is obtained by adding the powers of all variables in the term,
and the degree of the polynomial is given by the highest degree of all its terms. For
example, the polynomial
2x 2y 5  3xy 3  8xy 2  3y  4
is a polynomial in the two variables x and y. It has five terms with degrees 7, 4, 3, 1,
and 0, respectively. Accordingly, the degree of the polynomial is 7.

Adding and Subtracting Polynomials

Constant terms and terms having the same variable and exponent are called like or
similar terms. Like terms may be combined by adding or subtracting their numerical
coefficients. For example,
3x  7x  (3  7)x  10x Add like terms.

and

m  3m2  a  3 b m2   m2
1 2 1 5
Subtract like terms.
2 2 2
The distributive property of the real number system,
ab  ac  a(b  c)
is used to justify this procedure.
To add or subtract two or more polynomials, first remove the parentheses and then
combine like terms. The resulting expression is then written in order of decreasing
degree from left to right.

EXAMPLE 3
a. (3x 3  2x 2  4x  5)  (2x 3  2x 2  2)
 3x 3  2x 2  4x  5  2x 3  2x2  2 Remove parentheses.
 3x 3  2x 3  2x2  2x 2  4x  5  2 Group like terms together.
 x 3  4x  3 Combine like terms.
b. (2x 4  3x 3  4x  6)  (3x 4  9x 3  3x 2)
 2x 4  3x 3  4x  6  3x 4  9x 3  3x 2 Remove parentheses. Note that the
minus sign preceding the second
polynomial changes the sign of each
term of that polynomial.
 2x 4  3x 4  3x 3  9x 3  3x 2  4x  6 Group like terms.
 x 4  6x 3  3x 2  4x  6 Combine like terms.

Multiplying Polynomials
To find the product of two polynomials, we again use the distributive property for real
numbers. For example, to compute the product 3x(4x  2), we use the distributive law
to obtain
3x(4x  2)  (3x)(4x)  (3x)(2) a(b  c)  ab  ac
 12x 2  6x
Observe that each term of one polynomial is multiplied by each term of the other. The
resulting expression is then simplified by combining like terms. In general, an alge-
braic expression is simplified if none of its terms are similar.
 1.2 POLYNOMIALS 11

EXAMPLE 4 Find the product of (3x  5)(2x  3).

Solution

(3x  5)(2x  3)  3x(2x  3)  5(2x  3) Distributive property

 (3x)(2x)  (3x)(3) Distributive property
 (5)(2x)  (5)(3)
 6x 2  9x  10x  15 Multiply terms.
 6x 2  x  15 Combine like terms.

EXAMPLE 5 Find the product of (2t 2  t  3)(2t 2  1).

Solution

(2t 2  t  3)(2t 2  1)
 2t 2(2t 2  1)  t(2t 2  1)  3(2t 2  1) Distributive property
 (2t 2)(2t 2)  (2t 2)(1)  (t)(2t 2) Distributive property
 (t)(1)  (3)(2t 2)  (3)(1)
 4t 4  2t 2  2t 3  t  6t 2  3 Multiply terms.
 4t 4  2t 3  4t 2  t  3 Combine terms.

Alternate Solution We can also find the product by arranging the polynomials
vertically and multiplying:
2t 2  t  3
2t 2  1
4t 4  2t 3  6t 2
 2t 2  t  3
4t 4  2t 3  4t 2  t  3

The polynomials in Examples 4 and 5 are polynomials in one variable. The oper-
ations of addition, subtraction, and multiplication are performed on polynomials of
more than one variable in the same way as they are for polynomials in one variable.

EXAMPLE 6 Multiply (3x  y)(4x 2  2y).

Solution

(3x  y)(4x 2  2y)  3x(4x 2  2y)  y(4x 2  2y) Distributive property

 12x 3  6xy  4x 2y  2y 2 Distributive property
 12x 3  4x 2y  6xy  2y 2 Arrange terms in order of
descending powers of x.

Several commonly used products of polynomials are summarized in Table 6.

Since products of this type occur so frequently, you will find it helpful to memorize
these formulas.

TABLE 6
Special Products
Formula Illustration

1. (a  b)2  a2  2ab  b2 (2x  3y)2  (2x)2  2(2x)(3y)  (3y)2

 4x 2  12xy  9y 2
2. (a  b)2  a2  2ab  b2 (4x  2y)  (4x)2  2(4x)(2y)  (2y)2
2

 16x 2  16xy  4y 2
3. (a  b)(a  b)  a2  b2 (2x  y)(2x  y)  (2x)2  ( y)2
 4x 2  y2
12 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

EXAMPLE 7 Use the special product formulas to compute:

c. a x  1 b a x  1 b
1 1
a. (2x  y)2 b. (3a  4b)2
2 2

Solution

a. (2x  y)2  (2x)2  2(2x)( y)  y 2 Formula 1

 4x 2  4xy  y 2
b. (3a  4b)2  (3a)2  2(3a)(4b)  (4b)2 Formula 2
 9a2  24ab  16b2

c. a x  1 b a x  1 b  a x b  1  x 2  1
2
1 1 1 1
Formula 3
2 2 2 4

Order of Operations
The common steps in Examples 1–7 have been to remove parentheses and combine
like terms. If more than one grouping symbol is present, the innermost symbols are
removed first. As you work through Examples 8 and 9, note the order in which the
grouping symbols are removed: parentheses ( ) first, brackets [ ] second, and finally
braces { }. Also, note that the operations of multiplication and division take precedence
over addition and subtraction.

EXAMPLE 8 Perform the indicated operations:

2t 3  {t 2  [t  (2t  1)]  4}

Solution

2t 3  {t 2  [t  (2t  1)]  4}
 2t 3  {t 2  [t  2t  1]  4} Remove parentheses.
 2t 3  {t 2  [t  1]  4} Combine like terms within the brackets.
 2t 3  {t 2  t  1  4} Remove brackets.
 2t 3  {t 2  t  3} Combine like terms within the braces.
 2t 3  t 2  t  3 Remove braces.

EXAMPLE 9 Simplify 2{3  2[x  2x(3  x)]}.

Solution

2{3  2[x  2x(3  x)]}  2{3  2[x  6x  2x 2]} Remove parentheses.

 2{3  2[5x  2x 2]} Combine like terms.
 2{3  10x  4x 2} Remove brackets.
 6  20x  8x 2 Remove braces.
 8x 2  20x  6 Write answer in order of
descending powers of x.

1.2 Self-Check Exercises

1. Find the product of (2x  3y)(3x  2y). 2. Simplify 3x  2{2x  [x  2(x  2)]  1}.
Solutions to Self-Check Exercises 1.2 can be found on
page 14.
 1.2 POLYNOMIALS 13

1.2 Concept Questions

1. Describe a polynomial of degree n in x. Give an example of 2. Without looking at the text, complete the following formu-
a polynomial of degree 4 in x. las:
a. (1  b)2  ______
b. (a  b)2  ______
c. (a  b)(a  b)  ______

1.2 Exercises
In Exercises 1–12, evaluate the expression. 41. (2u  √)(2u  √) 42. (3r  4s)(3r  4s)
1. 34 2. (2)5 43. (2x  1)  3x  2(x  1)  3
2 2

3. a b 4. a b
3 2
2 3 44. (3m  2)2  2m(1  m)  4
3 4
45. (2x  3y)2  (2y  1)(3x  2)  2(x  y)

6.  a b
3
4
5. 43 46. (x  2y)( y  3x)  2xy  3(x  y  1)
5
47. (t 2  2t  4)(2t 2  1) 48. (3m 2  1)(2m 2  3m  4)
7. 2 a b 8. a b a b
3 2 3
3 2 3
49. 2x  {3x  [x  (2x  1)]}
5 3 4
50. 3m  2{m  3[2m  (m  5)]  4}
9. 23  25 10. (3)2  (3)3
51. x  {2x  [x  (1  x)]}
11. (3y)2(3y)3 12. (2x)3(2x)2
52. 3x 2  {x 2  1  x[x  (2x  1)]}  2
In Exercises 13–56, perform the indicated operations and
simplify. 53. (2x  3)2  3(x  4)(x  4)  2(x  4)  1

13. (2x  3)  (4x  6) 14. (3x  2)  (4x  3) 54. (x  2y)2  2(x  y)(x  3y)  x(2x  3y  2)

15. (7x 2  2x  5)  (2x 2  5x  4) 55. 2x{3x[2x  (3  x)]  (x  1)(2x  3)}

16. (3x 2  5xy  2y)  (4  3xy  2x 2) 56. 3[(x  2y)2  (3x  2y)2  (2x  y)(2x  y)]

17. (5y 2  2y  1)  (y 2  3y  7) 57. MANUFACTURING PROFIT The total revenue realized in the
sale of x units of the LectroCopy photocopying machine is
18. (2x 2  3x  4)  (x 2  2x  6)
0.04x 2  2000x
19. (2.4x 3  3x 2  1.7x  6.2)  (1.2x 3  1.2x 2  0.8x  2)
dollars/week, and the total cost incurred in manufacturing
20. (1.4x 3  1.2x 2  3.2)  (0.8x 3  2.1x  1.8) x units of the machines is
21. (3x 2)(2x 3) 22. (2rs 2)(4r 2s 2)(2s) 0.000002x 3  0.02x 2  1000x  120,000
23. 2x(x 2  2)  4x 3 24. xy(2y  3x) dollars/week (0 x 50,000). Find an expression giving
the total weekly profit of the company.
25. 2m(3m  4)  m(m  1)
Hint: The profit is revenue minus cost.
26. 3x(2x 2  3x  5)  2x(x 2  3)
58. MANUFACTURING PROFIT A manufacturer of tennis rackets
27. 3(2a  b)  4(b  2a) 28. 2(3m  1)  3(4m  2n) finds that the total cost of manufacturing x rackets/day is
given by
29. (2x  3)(3x  2) 30. (3r  1)(2r  5) 0.0001x 2  4x  400
31. (2x  3y)(3x  2y) 32. (5m  2n)(5m  3n) dollars. Each racket can be sold at a price of p dollars,
33. (3r  2s)(4r  3s) 34. (2m  3n)(3m  2n) where
p  0.0004x  10
35. (0.2x  1.2y)(0.3x  2.1y)
Find an expression giving the daily profit for the manufac-
36. (3.2m  1.7n)(4.2m  1.3n) turer, assuming that all the rackets manufactured can be sold.
Hint: The total revenue is given by the total number of rackets
37. (2x  y)(3x 2  2y) 38. (3m  2n 2)(2m 2  3n)
sold multiplied by the price of each racket. The profit is given by
39. (2x  3y)2 40. (3m  2n)2 revenue minus cost.
14 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

59. PRISON OVERCROWDING The 1980s saw a trend toward ing (in dollars), including expenditures for Medicaid and
old-fashioned punitive deterrence as opposed to the more lib- other federal, state, and local government public health
eral penal policies and community-based corrections popular care, is
in the 1960s and early 1970s. As a result, prisons became
1.1t 2  29.1t  429 (0 t 6)
more crowded, and the gap between the number of people in
prison and prison capacity widened. Based on figures from where t has the same meaning as before. Find an expres-
the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of prisoners (in sion for the difference between private and government
thousands) in federal and state prisons is approximately expenditures per person at any time t. What was the differ-
ence between private and government expenditures per
3.5t 2  26.7t  436.2 (0 t 10)
person at the beginning of 1998? At the beginning of 2000?
and the number of inmates (in thousands) for which prisons Source: Health Care Financing Administration
were designed is given by
24.3t  365 (0 t 10) In Exercises 61–64, determine whether the statement is
true or false. If it is true, explain why it is true. If it is
where t is measured in years and t  0 corresponds to 1984. false, give an example to show why it is false.
Find an expression giving the gap between the number of
61. If m and n are natural numbers and a and b are real num-
prisoners and the number for which the prisons were
bers, then am  bn  (ab)mn.
designed at any time t.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice 62. a16  b16  (a8  b8)(a4  b4)(a2  b2)(a  b)(a  b)
60. HEALTH-CARE SPENDING Health-care spending per person 63. The degree of the product of a polynomial of degree m and
(in dollars) by the private sector includes payments by a polynomial of degree n is mn.
individuals, corporations, and their insurance companies
64. Suppose p and q are polynomials of degree n. Then p  q
and is approximated by
is a polynomial of degree n.
2.5t 2  18.5t  509 (0 t 6)
65. Suppose p is a polynomial of degree m and q is a polyno-
where t is measured in years and t  0 corresponds to the mial of degree n, where m n. What is the degree of
beginning of 1994. The corresponding government spend- p  q?

1.2 Solutions to Self-Check Exercises

1. (2x  3y)(3x  2y)  2x(3x  2y)  3y(3x  2y) 2. 3x  2{2x  [x  2(x  2)]  1}
 6x 2  4xy  9xy  6y 2  3x  2{2x  [x  2x  4]  1}
 6x 2  5xy  6y 2  3x  2{2x  [x  4]  1}
 3x  2{2x  x  4  1}
 3x  2{3x  3}
 3x  6x  6
 3x  6

1.3 Factoring Polynomials

Factoring
Factoring a polynomial is the process of expressing it as a product of two or more
polynomials. For example, by applying the distributive property we may write
3x 2  x  x(3x  1)
and we say that x and 3x  1 are factors of 3x 2  x.
How do we know if a polynomial is completely factored? Recall that an integer
greater than 1 is prime if its only positive integer factors are itself and 1. For example,
the number 3 is prime because its only factors are 3 and 1. In the same way, a poly-
nomial is said to be prime over the set of integral coefficients if it cannot be expressed
as a product of two or more polynomials of positive degree with integral coefficients.
 1.3 FACTORING POLYNOMIALS 15

For example, x 2  2x  2 is a prime polynomial relative to the set of integers, whereas

x 2  9 is not a prime polynomial, since x 2  9  (x  3)(x  3). Finally, a polyno-
mial is said to be completely factored over the set of integers if it is expressed as a
product of prime polynomials with integral coefficients.

Note Unless otherwise mentioned, we will only consider factorization over the set
of integers in this text. Hence, when the term factor is used, it will be understood that
the factorization is to be completed over the set of integers.

Common Factors
The first step in factoring a polynomial is to check to see if it contains any common
factors. If it does, the common factor of highest degree is then factored out. For exam-
ple, the greatest common factor of 2a2x  4ax  6a is 2a because
2a2x  4ax  6a  2a  ax  2a  2x  2a  3
 2a(ax  2x  3)

EXAMPLE 1 Factor out the greatest common factor.

a. 3t 2  3t b. 6a4b4c  9a2b2

Solution

a. Since 3t is a common factor of each term, we have

3t 2  3t  3t(t  1)  3t(1  t)
b. Since 3a2b2 is the common factor of highest degree, we have
6a4b4c  9a2b2  3a2b2(2a2b2c  3)

Some Important Formulas

Having checked for common factors, the next step in factoring a polynomial is
to express the polynomial as the product of a constant and/or one or more prime
polynomials. The formulas given in Table 7 for factoring polynomials should be
memorized.

TABLE 7
Factoring Formulas
Formula Illustration

Difference of two squares

a2  b2  (a  b)(a  b) x 2  36  (x  6)(x  6)
8x 2  2y 2  2(4x 2  y 2)  2[(2x)2  y 2]
 2(2x  y)(2x  y)
9  a6  32  (a3)2  (3  a3)(3  a3)
Perfect square trinomial
a2  2ab  b2  (a  b)2 x 2  8x  16  (x  4)2
a2  2ab  b2  (a  b)2 4x 2  4xy  y 2  (2x)2  2(2x)(y)  y 2
 (2x  y)2
Sum of two cubes
a3  b3  (a  b)(a2  ab  b2) z 3  27  z 3  (3)3
 (z  3)(z 2  3z  9)
Difference of two cubes
a3  b3  (a  b)(a2  ab  b2) 8x 3  y 6  (2x)3  ( y 2)3
 (2x  y 2)(4x 2  2xy 2  y 4)
16 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

Note Observe that a formula is given for factoring the sum of two cubes, but none
is given for factoring the sum of two squares since x 2  a 2 is prime over the set of
integers.

EXAMPLE 2 Factor:
a. x 2  9 b. 16x 2  81y 4 c. (a  b)2  (a2  b)2

Solution Observe that each of the polynomials in parts (a)–(c) is the difference of
two squares. Using the formula given in Table 7, we have
a. x 2  9  x 2  32  (x  3)(x  3)
b. 16x 2  81y 4  (4x)2  (9y 2)2  (4x  9y 2)(4x  9y 2)
c. (a  b)2  (a2  b)2  [(a  b)  (a2  b)][(a  b)  (a2  b)]
 [a  b  a2  b][a  b  a2  b] Remove parentheses.
 (a  a2)(a2  a  2b) Combine like terms.
 a(1  a)(a2  a  2b)

EXAMPLE 3 Factor:
a. x 2  4xy  4y 2 b. 4a2  12ab  9b2

Solution Recognizing each of these polynomials as a perfect square trinomial, we

use the formula given in Table 7 to factor each polynomial. Thus,
a. x 2  4xy  4y 2  x 2  2x(2y)  (2y)2  (x  2y)(x  2y)  (x  2y)2
b. 4a2  12ab  9b2  (2a)2  2(2a)(3b)  (3b)2
 (2a  3b)(2a  3b)  (2a  3b)2

EXAMPLE 4 Factor:
a. x 3  8y 3 b. 27a3  64b3

Solution

a. This polynomial is the sum of two cubes. Using the formula given in Table 7, we
have
x 3  8y 3  x 3  (2y)3  (x  2y)[x 2  x(2y)  (2y)2]
 (x  2y)(x 2  2xy  4y 2)
b. Using the formula for the difference of two cubes, we have
27a3  64b3  [(3a)3  (4b)3]
 (3a  4b)[(3a)2  (3a)(4b)  (4b)2]
 (3a  4b)(9a2  12ab  16b2)

Trial-and-Error Factorization
The factors of the second-degree polynomial px 2  qx  r, where p, q, and r are inte-
gers, have the form
(ax  b)(cx  d )
where ac  p, ad  bc  q, and bd  r. Since only a limited number of choices are
possible, we use a trial-and-error method to factor polynomials having this form.
For example, to factor x 2  2x  3, we first observe that the only possible first-
degree terms are
(x )(x ) Since the coefficient of x 2 is 1
 1.3 FACTORING POLYNOMIALS 17

Next, we observe that the product of the constant terms is (3). This gives us the fol-
lowing possible factors:
(x  1)(x  3)
(x  1)(x  3)
Looking once again at the polynomial x 2  2x  3, we see that the coefficient of x is
2. Checking to see which set of factors yields 2 for the coefficient of x, we find that
Coefficients of inner terms Factors
앚 Coefficients of outer terms Outer terms
앗 앗
앗 앗
(1)(1)  (1)(3)  2 (x  1)(x  3)
앖앖
Inner terms
Coefficients of inner terms
앚 Coefficients of outer terms Outer terms
앗 앗
앗 앗
(1)(1)  (1)(3)  2 (x  1)(x  3)
앖앖
Inner terms
and we conclude that the correct factorization is
x 2  2x  3  (x  1)(x  3)
With practice, you will soon find that you can perform many of these steps mentally,
and you will no longer need to write out each step.

EXAMPLE 5 Factor:
a. 3x 2  4x  4 b. 3x 2  6x  24

Solution

a. Using trial and error, we find that the correct factorization is

3x 2  4x  4  (3x  2)(x  2)
b. Since each term has the common factor 3, we have
3x 2  6x  24  3(x 2  2x  8)
Using the trial-and-error method of factorization, we find that
x 2  2x  8  (x  4)(x  2)
Thus, we have
3x 2  6x  24  3(x  4)(x  2)

Factoring by Regrouping
Sometimes a polynomial may be factored by regrouping and rearranging terms so that
a common term can be factored out. This technique is illustrated in Example 6.

EXAMPLE 6 Factor:
a. x 3  x  x 2  1 b. 2ax  2ay  bx  by

Solution

a. We begin by rearranging the terms in order of descending powers of x. Thus,

x3  x  x2  1  x3  x2  x  1
 x 2(x  1)  x  1 Factor the first two terms.
 (x  1)(x 2  1) Factor the common term x  1.
18 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

b. First, factor the common term 2a from the first two terms and the common term b
from the last two terms. Thus,
2ax  2ay  bx  by  2a(x  y)  b(x  y)
Since (x  y) is common to both terms of the polynomial on the right, we can factor it
out. Hence,
2a(x  y)  b(x  y)  (x  y)(2a  b)

More Examples on Factoring

EXAMPLE 7 Factor:
a. 4x 6  4x 2 b. 18x 4  3x 3  6x 2

Solution

a. 4x 6  4x 2  4x 2(x4  1) Common factor

 4 x2(x2  1)(x 2  1) Difference of two squares
 4x 2(x  1)(x  1)(x 2  1) Difference of two squares
b. 18x  3x  6x 2  3x 2(6x 2  x  2)
4 3
Common factor
 3x 2(3x  2)(2x  1) Trial-and-error factorization

EXAMPLE 8 Factor:
a. 3x 2y  9x 2  12y  36 b. (x  at)3  (x  at)3

Solution

a. 3x 2y  9x 2  12y  36  3(x 2y  3x 2  4y  12) Common factor

 3[x 2(y  3)  4( y  3)] Regrouping
 3(y  3)(x2  4) Common factor
 3(y  3)(x  2)(x  2) Difference of two squares
b. (x  at)3  (x  at)3
 [(x  at)  (x  at)]
 [(x  at)2  (x  at)(x  at)  (x  at)2] Difference of two cubes
 2at(x 2  2atx  a2t 2  x 2  a2t 2  x 2  2atx  a2t 2)
 2at(3x 2  a2t 2)

Be sure you become familiar with the factorization methods discussed in this
chapter because we will be using them throughout the text. As with many other alge-
braic techniques, you will find yourself becoming more proficient at factoring as you
work through the exercises.

1.3 Self-Check Exercises

1. Factor: a. 4x 3  2x 2 b. 3(a2  2b2)  4(a2  2b2)2 2. Factor: a. 6x 2  x  12 b. 4x 2  10x  6
Solutions to Self-Check Exercises 1.3 can be found on
page 19.

1.3 Concept Questions

1. What is meant by the expression “factor a polynomial”? 2. Without looking at the text, complete the following formulas:
Illustrate the process with an example. a. a 3  b3  ______ b. a 3  b3  ______
 1.3 FACTORING POLYNOMIALS 19

1.3 Exercises
In Exercises 1–10, factor out the greatest common factor. 37. 8m3  1 38. 27m3  8
1. 6m  2m
2
2. 4t  12t
4 3
39. 8r 3  27s 3 40. x 3  64y 3
3. 9ab2  6a2b 4. 12x 3y 5  16x 2y 3 41. u 2√ 6  8u 2 42. r 6s 6  8s 3
5. 10m n  15mn  20mn
2 2
43. 2x 3  6x  x 2  3 44. 2u 4  4u2  2u2  4
6. 6x 4y  4x 2y 2  2x 2y 3 45. 3ax  6ay  bx  2by 46. 6ux  4uy  3√x  2√y
7. 3x(2x  1)  5(2x  1) 47. u  √
4 4
48. u 4  u 2√ 2  6√ 4
8. 2u(3√ 2  w)  5√(3√ 2  w) 49. 4x 3  9xy 2  4x 2y  9y 3 50. 4u 4  11u 2√ 2  3√ 4
9. (3a  b)(2c  d)  2a(2c  d ) 2
51. x 4  3x 3  2x  6 52. a 2  b2  a  b
10. 4u√ 2(2u  √)  6u 2√(√  2u) 53. au 2  (a  c)u  c 54. ax 2  (1  ab)xy  by 2
In Exercises 11–54, factor the polynomial. If the polyno- 55. SIMPLE INTEREST The accumulated amount after t yr when
mial is prime, state it. a deposit of P dollars is made in a bank and earning inter-
11. 2m2  11m  6 12. 6x 2  x  1 est at the rate of r/year is A  P  Prt. Factor the expres-
sion on the right-hand side of this equation.
13. x 2  xy  6y 2 14. 2u 2  5u√  12√ 2
56. SPREAD OF AN EPIDEMIC The incidence (number of new
15. x 2  3x  1 16. m2  2m  3 cases/day) of a contagious disease spreading in a popula-
tion of M people, where k is a positive constant and x
17. 4a2  b2 18. 12x 2  3y 2
denotes the number of people already infected, is given by
19. u 2√ 2  w 2 20. 4a2b2  25c2 kMx  kx 2. Factor this expression.
21. z 2  4 22. u 2  25√ 2 57. REACTION TO A DRUG The strength of a human body’s reac-
tion to a dosage D of a certain drug, where k is a positive
23. x 2  6xy  y 2 24. 4u 2  12u√  9√ 2 constant, is given by
25. x 2  3x  4 26. 3m3  3m2  18m
kD2 D3

27. 12x y  10xy  12y
2
28. 12x y  2xy  24y
2
2 3

29. 35r  r  12
2
30. 6u√ 2  9u√  6√ Factor this expression.
31. 9x 3y  xy 3 32. 4u 4√  9u2√ 3 58. REVENUE The total revenue realized by the Apollo Company
from the sale of x PDAs is given by R(x)  0.1x 2  500x
33. x  16y
4 2
34. 16u √  9√
4 3
dollars. Factor the expression on the right-hand side of this
35. (a  2b)2  (a  2b)2 36. 2x(x  y)2  8x(x  y 2)2 equation.

1.3 Solutions to Self-Check Exercises

1. a. The common factor is 2x 2. Therefore, b. We first factor out the common factor 2. Thus,
4x  2x  2x (2x  1)
3 2 2
4x 2  10x  6  2(2x 2  5x  3)

b. The common factor is a2  2b2. Therefore, Using the trial-and-error method of factorization, we find
that
3(a  2b )  4(a  2b )  (a  2b )[3  4(a  2b )]
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

 (a2  2b2)(3  4a2  8b2) 2x 2  5x  3  (2x  1)(x  3)

2. a. Using the trial-and-error method of factorization, we find and, consequently,

that 4x 2  10x  6  2(2x  1)(x  3)
6x 2  x  12  (3x  4)(2x  3)
20 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

1.4 Rational Expressions

Quotients of polynomials are called rational expressions. Examples of rational
expressions are
6x  1 3x 2y 3  2xy
and
2x  3 4x  y
Because division by zero is not allowed, the denominator of a rational expression must
not be equal to zero. Thus, in the first example, x  32, and in the second example,
y  4x.
Since rational expressions are quotients in which the variables represent real num-
bers, the properties of real numbers apply to rational expressions as well. For this rea-
son, operations with rational fractions are performed in the same way as operations
with arithmetic fractions.

Simplifying Rational Expressions

A rational expression is simplified, or reduced to lowest terms, if its numerator and
denominator have no common factors other than 1 and 1. If a rational expression
does contain common factors, we use the properties of the real number system to write
ac

a # ca # 1a (a, b, c are real numbers, and bc  0.)
bc b c b b
This process is often called “canceling common factors.” To indicate this process, we
often write
ac a

bc b
where a slash is shown through the common factors. As another example, the rational
expression
1x  22 1x  32
(x  2, 3)
1x  22 1x  32
is simplified by canceling the common factors (x  3) and writing
1x  22 1x  32 x2

1x  22 1x  32 x2
3  4x
 1  4x is an example of incorrect cancellation. Instead we write
3
3  4x 3 4x 4x
  1
3 3 3 3

EXAMPLE 1 Simplify:
x 2  2x  3 3  4x  4x2 1k  4 2 2 1k  1 2
a. b. c.
x 2  4x  3 2x  1 k 2  16

Solution

x 2  2x  3 1x  3 2 1x  1 2 x1
 
1x  3 2 1x  1 2
a. Factor numerator and denominator and
x  4x  3
2
x1 cancel common factors.
 1.4 RATIONAL EXPRESSIONS 21

3  4x  4x 2 11  2x 2 13  2x 2
b. 
2x  1 2x  1
12x  1 2 12x  3 2
 Rewrite the term 1  2x in the
2x  1 equivalent form (2x  1).
 (2x  3) Cancel common factors.
1k  42 1k  1 2
2
1k  4 2 1k  1 2
2
1k  4 2 1k  12
 
1k  4 2 1k  4 2
c.
k  16
2
k4

Multiplication and Division

The operations of multiplication and division are performed with rational expressions
in the same way they are with arithmetic fractions (Table 8).

TABLE 8
Multiplication and Division of Rational Expressions
Operation Illustration

If P, Q, R, and S are polynomials, then

Multiplication
P # R 1x  12 2x1x  12

PR
(Q, S  0)
2x # 
Q S QS y 1y  12 y1y  12
Division
x2  3 y2  1 x2  3 x1x 2  32
P
 
R P # S

PS
(Q, R, S  0)   # x

Q S Q R QR y x y y2  1 y1y 2  12

When rational expressions are multiplied and divided, the resulting expressions
should be simplified.

EXAMPLE 2 Perform the indicated operations and simplify.

2x  8 x 2  4x  4 x 2  6x  9 x2  9
a. # b.  2
x2 x 2  16 3x  12 6x  18x

Solution

2x  8 x 2  4x  4
a. #
x2 x 2  16
21x  4 2 1x  2 2 2
 #
1x  4 2 1x  4 2
Factor numerators and denominators.
x2
21x  4 2 1x  22 1x  2 2

1x  2 2 1x  42 1x  4 2
21x  2 2
 Cancel the common factors (x  2)(x  4).
x4
22 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ALGEBRA

x 2  6x  9 x2  9 x 2  6x  9 6x 2  18x
b.  2  #
3x  12 6x  18x 3x  12 x2  9
1x  32
# 6x1x  32
2

31x  4 2 1x  3 2 1x  3 2
1x  32 1x  3 2 16x 2 1x  3 2

31x  4 2 1x  3 2 1x  3 2
2x1x  3 2

x4

Addition and Subtraction

For rational expressions the operations of addition and subtraction are performed by
finding a common denominator for the fractions and then adding or subtracting the
fractions. Table 9 shows the rules for fractions with common denominators.

TABLE 9
Adding and Subtracting Fractions with Common Denominators
Operation Illustration

If P, Q, and R are polynomials, then

Addition
P Q PQ 2x 6x 2x  6x 8x
  (R  0)   
R R R x2 x2 x2 x2
Subtraction
P Q PQ 3y y 3y  y 2y
  (R  0)   
R R R yx yx yx yx

To add or subtract fractions that have different denominators, first find a common
denominator, preferably the least common denominator (LCD). To find the LCD of
two or more rational expressions, follow these steps:
1. Find the prime factors of each denominator.
2. Form the product of the different prime factors that occur in the denominators.
Raise each prime factor in this product to the highest power of that factor appear-
ing in the denominators.
After finding the LCD, carry out the indicated operations following the procedure for
adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators.

EXAMPLE 3 Simplify:
3x  4 4y  2 2x 3x  1 1 1
a.  b.  2 c. 
4x 3y x 1
2
2x  x  1 xh x

Solution
4y  2 3x  4 3y
a.
3x  4
  #  4y  2 # 4x LCD  (4x)(3y)  12xy
4x 3y 4x 3y 3y 4x
9xy  12y 16xy  8x
 
12xy 12xy
25xy  8x  12y

12xy
 1.4 RATIONAL EXPRESSIONS 23

2x 3x  1 2x 3x  1
 2  
1x  1 2 1x  12 12x  1 2 1x  1 2
b.
x 1
2
2x  x  1
2x12x  1 2  13x  1 2 1x  12 LCD 
 (2x  1) 
1x  1 2 1x  1 2 12x  1 2 (x  1)(x  1)
4x 2  2x  3x 2  3x  x  1

1x  1 2 1x  1 2 12x  1 2
7x 2  6x  1

1x  1 2 1x  1 2 12x  12
1 # x 1 xh
 #
1 1
c.   LCD  x(x  h)
xh x xh x x xh
x xh
 
x1x  h 2 x1x  h 2
xxh

x1x  h 2
h

x1x  h 2

Compound Fractions
A fractional expression that contains fractions in its numerator and/or denominator is
called a compound fraction. The techniques used to simplify rational expressions
may be used to simplify these fractions.

EXAMPLE 4 Simplify:
1 1 1
1 
x1 x y
a. b.
4 1 1
x  2
x x2 y

Solution

a. We first express the numerator and denominator of the given expression as a

single quotient. Thus,
x
1#
1 1 1
1 
x1 x 1 x1
 The LCD for the fraction in the numerator is
x #
4 x 4 x  1, and the LCD for the fraction in the
x  denominator is x.
x x x
x11
x1

x2  4
x
x2
x1
 2
x 4
x
Other documents randomly have
different content
round the north of Scotland. It will be observed that when Scott
began his letter, he had only had Mr. Morritt's opinion of the first
volume of Waverley, and that before he closed it he had received his
friend's honest criticism on the work as a whole, with the expression
of an earnest hope that he would drop his incognito on the title-
page of a second edition.

TO J. B. S. MORRITT, ESQ., M. P., PORTLAND PLACE, LONDON.

Abbotsford, July 24, 1814.

My Dear Morritt,—I am going to say my vales to you for some

weeks, having accepted an invitation from a committee of the
Commissioners for the Northern Lights (I don't mean the
Edinburgh Reviewers, but the bona-fide Commissioners for the
Beacons), to accompany them upon a nautical tour round
Scotland, visiting all that is curious on continent and isle. The
party are three gentlemen with whom I am very well acquainted,
William Erskine being one. We have a stout cutter, well fitted up
and manned for the service by Government; and to make
assurance double sure, the admiral has sent a sloop of war to
cruise in the dangerous points of our tour, and sweep the sea of
the Yankee privateers, which sometimes annoy our northern
latitudes. I shall visit the Clephanes in their solitude—and let you
know all that I see that is rare and entertaining, which, as we are
masters of our time and vessel, should add much to my stock of
knowledge.

As to Waverley, I will play Sir Fretful for once, and assure you
that I left the story to flag in the first volume on purpose; the
second and third have rather more bustle and interest. I wished
(with what success Heaven knows) to avoid the ordinary error of
novel writers, whose first volume is usually their best. But since it
has served to amuse Mrs. Morritt and you usque ab initio, I have
no doubt you will tolerate it even unto the end. It may really
boast to be a tolerably faithful portrait of Scottish manners, and
has been recognized as such in Edinburgh. The first edition of a
thousand instantly disappeared, and the bookseller informs me
that the second, of double the quantity, will not supply the
market long.—As I shall be very anxious to know how Mrs.
Morritt is, I hope to have a few lines from you on my return,
which will be about the end of August or beginning of September.
I should have mentioned that we have the celebrated engineer,
Stevenson, along with us. I delight in these professional men of
talent; they always give you some new lights by the peculiarity of
their habits and studies, so different from the people who are
rounded, and smoothed, and ground down for conversation, and
who can say all that every other person says, and—nothing
more.

What a miserable thing it is that our royal family cannot be

quiet and decent at least, if not correct and moral in their
deportment. Old farmer George's manly simplicity, modesty of
expense, and domestic virtue, saved this country at its most
perilous crisis; for it is inconceivable the number of persons
whom these qualities united in his behalf, who would have felt
but feebly the abstract duty of supporting a crown less worthily
worn.

—I had just proceeded thus far when your kind favor of the
21st reached Abbotsford. I am heartily glad you continued to like
Waverley to the end. The hero is a sneaking piece of imbecility;
and if he had married Flora, she would have set him up upon the
chimney-piece, as Count Borowlaski's wife used to do with him.
[56] I am a bad hand at depicting a hero, properly so called, and
have an unfortunate propensity for the dubious characters of
Borderers, buccaneers, Highland robbers, and all others of a
Robin Hood description. I do not know why it should be, as I am
myself, like Hamlet, indifferent honest; but I suppose the blood
of the old cattle-drivers of Teviotdale continues to stir in my
veins.
 I shall not own Waverley; my chief reason is that it would
prevent me of the pleasure of writing again. David Hume,
nephew of the historian, says the author must be of a Jacobite
family and predilections, a yeoman-cavalry man, and a Scottish
lawyer, and desires me to guess in whom these happy attributes
are united. I shall not plead guilty, however; and as such seems
to be the fashion of the day, I hope charitable people will believe
my affidavit in contradiction to all other evidence. The Edinburgh
faith now is, that Waverley is written by Jeffrey, having been
composed to lighten the tedium of his late transatlantic voyage.
So you see the unknown infant is like to come to preferment. In
truth, I am not sure it would be considered quite decorous for
me, as a Clerk of Session, to write novels. Judges being monks,
Clerks are a sort of lay brethren, from whom some solemnity of
walk and conduct may be expected. So, whatever I may do of
this kind, "I shall whistle it down the wind, and let it prey at
fortune."[57] I will take care, in the next edition, to make the
corrections you recommend. The second is, I believe, nearly
through the press. It will hardly be printed faster than it was
written; for though the first volume was begun long ago, and
actually lost for a time, yet the other two were begun and
finished between the 4th June and the 1st July, during all which I
attended my duty in Court, and proceeded without loss of time or
hindrance of business.

I wish, for poor auld Scotland's sake,[58] and for the manes of
Bruce and Wallace, and for the living comfort of a very worthy
and ingenious dissenting clergyman, who has collected a library
and medals of some value, and brought up, I believe, sixteen or
seventeen children (his wife's ambition extended to twenty) upon
about £150 a year—I say I wish, for all these reasons, you could
get me among your wealthy friends a name or two for the
enclosed proposals. The price is, I think, too high; but the
booksellers fixed it two guineas above what I proposed. I trust it
will be yet lowered to five guineas, which is a more come-at-able
sum than six. The poems themselves are great curiosities, both
 to the philologist and antiquary; and that of Bruce is invaluable
even to the historian. They have been hitherto wretchedly edited.

I am glad you are not to pay for this scrawl. Ever yours,

Walter Scott.

P. S.—I do not see how my silence can be considered as

imposing on the public. If I give my name to a book without
writing it, unquestionably that would be a trick. But, unless in the
case of his averring facts which he may be called upon to defend
or justify, I think an author may use his own discretion in giving
or withholding his name. Harry Mackenzie never put his name in
a title-page till the last edition of his works; and Swift only owned
one out of his thousand-and-one publications. In point of
emolument, everybody knows that I sacrifice much money by
withholding my name; and what should I gain by it, that any
human being has a right to consider as an unfair advantage? In
fact, only the freedom of writing trifles with less personal
responsibility, and perhaps more frequently than I otherwise
might do.

W. S.

I am not able to give the exact date of the following reply to one
of John Ballantyne's expostulations on the subject of the secret:—

"No, John, I will not own the book—

I won't, you Picaroon.
When next I try St. Grubby's brook,
The A. of Wa—shall bait the hook—
And flat-fish bite as soon,
As if before them they had got
The worn-out wriggler

Walter Scott."
 CHAPTER XXVIII

VOYAGE TO THE SHETLAND ISLES, ETC. — SCOTT'S DIARY KEPT

ON BOARD THE LIGHTHOUSE YACHT

1814

The gallant composure with which Scott, when he had dismissed a

work from his desk, awaited the decision of the public—and the
healthy elasticity of spirit with which he could meanwhile turn his
whole zeal upon new or different objects—are among the features in
his character which will always, I believe, strike the student of
literary history as most remarkable. We have now seen him before
the fate of Waverley had been determined—before he had heard a
word about its reception in England, except from one partial
confidant—preparing to start on a voyage to the northern isles,
which was likely to occupy the best part of two months, and in the
course of which he could hardly expect to receive any intelligence
from his friends in Edinburgh. The Diary which he kept during this
expedition is—thanks to the leisure of a landsman on board—a very
full one; and, written without the least notion probably that it would
ever be perused except in his own family circle, it affords such a
complete and artless portraiture of the man, as he was in himself,
and as he mingled with his friends and companions, at one of the
most interesting periods of his life, that I am persuaded every reader
will be pleased to see it printed in its original state. A few extracts
from it were published by himself, in one of the Edinburgh Annual
Registers—he also drew from it some of the notes to his Lord of the
Isles, and the substance of several others for his romance of the
Pirate. But the recurrence of these detached passages will not be
complained of—expounded and illustrated as the reader will find
them by the personal details of the context.

WILLIAM ERSKINE (LORD KINNEDDER)

From the water-color portrait by William Nicholson

I have been often told by one of the companions of this voyage,

that heartily as Scott entered throughout into their social
enjoyments, they all perceived him, when inspecting for the first
time scenes of remarkable grandeur, to be in such an abstracted and
excited mood, that they felt it would be the kindest and discreetest
plan to leave him to himself. "I often," said Lord Kinnedder, "on
coming up from the cabin at night, found him pacing the deck
rapidly, muttering to himself—and went to the forecastle, lest my
presence should disturb him. I remember, that at Loch Corriskin, in
particular, he seemed quite overwhelmed with his feelings; and we
all saw it, and retiring unnoticed, left him to roam and gaze about by
himself, until it was time to muster the party and be gone." Scott
used to mention the surprise with which he himself witnessed
Erskine's emotion on first entering the Cave of Staffa. "Would you
believe it?" he said—"my poor Willie sat down and wept like a
woman!" Yet his own sensibilities, though betrayed in a more
masculine and sterner guise, were perhaps as keen as well as
deeper than his amiable friend's.

The poet's Diary, contained in five little paper books, is as follows:

—

VACATION, 1814.

Voyage in the Lighthouse Yacht to Nova Zembla, and the Lord

knows where.

"July 29, 1814.—Sailed from Leith about one o'clock on board

the Lighthouse Yacht, conveying six guns, and ten men,
commanded by Mr. Wilson. The company: Commissioners of the
Northern Lights, Robert Hamilton, Sheriff of Lanarkshire; William
Erskine, Sheriff of Orkney and Zetland; Adam Duff, Sheriff of
Forfarshire. Non-commissioners, Ipse Ego; Mr. David
Marjoribanks, son to John Marjoribanks, Provost of Edinburgh, a
young gentleman; Rev. Mr. Turnbull, minister of Tingwall, in the
presbytery of Shetland. But the official chief of the expedition is
Mr. Stevenson, the Surveyor-Viceroy over the Commissioners—a
most gentlemanlike and modest man, and well known by his
scientific skill.[59]

"Reached the Isle of May in the evening; went ashore, and saw
the light—an old tower, and much in the form of a border-keep,
with a beacon-grate on the top. It is to be abolished for an oil
revolving-light, the grate-fire only being ignited upon the leeward
side when the wind is very high. Quære—Might not the grate
revolve? The isle had once a cell or two upon it. The vestiges of
the chapel are still visible. Mr. Stevenson proposed demolishing
the old tower, and I recommended ruining it à la picturesque—i.
e., demolishing it partially. The island might be made a delightful
residence for sea-bathers.

"On board again in the evening: watched the progress of the

ship round Fifeness, and the revolving motion of the now distant
Bell-Rock light until the wind grew rough, and the landsmen sick.
To bed at eleven, and slept sound.

"30th July.—Waked at six by the steward; summoned to visit

the Bell-Rock, where the beacon is well worthy attention. Its
dimensions are well known; but no description can give the idea
of this slight, solitary, round tower, trembling amid the billows,
and fifteen miles from Arbroath, the nearest shore. The fitting up
within is not only handsome, but elegant. All work of wood
(almost) is wainscot; all hammer-work brass; in short, exquisitely
fitted up. You enter by a ladder of rope, with wooden steps,
about thirty feet from the bottom, where the mason-work ceases
to be solid, and admits of round apartments. The lowest is a
storehouse for the people's provisions, water, etc.; above that a
storehouse for the lights, of oil, etc.; then the kitchen of the
people, three in number; then their sleeping chamber; then the
saloon or parlor, a neat little room; above all, the lighthouse; all
communicating by oaken ladders, with brass rails, most
handsomely and conveniently executed. Breakfasted in the parlor.
[60] On board again at nine, and run down, through a rough sea,
to Aberbrothock, vulgarly called Arbroath. All sick, even Mr.
Stevenson. God grant this occur seldom! Landed and dined at
Arbroath, where we were to take up Adam Duff. We visited the
appointments of the lighthouse establishment—a handsome
tower, with two wings. These contain the lodgings of the keepers
of the light—very handsome, indeed, and very clean. They might
be thought too handsome, were it not of consequence to give
those men, entrusted with a duty so laborious and slavish, a
consequence in the eyes of the public and in their own. The
central part of the building forms a single tower, corresponding
with the lighthouse. As the keepers' families live here, they are
apprised each morning by a signal that all is well. If this signal be
not made, a tender sails for the rock directly. I visited the abbey
church for the third time, the first being—eheu![61]—the second
with T. Thomson. Dined at Arbroath, and came on board at night,
where I made up this foolish journal, and now beg for wine and
water. So the vessel is once more in motion.

"31st July.—Waked at seven; vessel off Fowlsheugh and

Dunnottar. Fair wind, and delightful day; glide enchantingly along
the coast of Kincardineshire, and open the bay of Nigg about ten.
At eleven, off Aberdeen; the gentlemen go ashore to Girdle-Ness,
a projecting point of rock to the east of the harbor of Foot-Dee.
There the magistrates of Aberdeen wish to have a fort and
beacon-light. The Oscar, whaler, was lost here last year, with all
her hands, excepting two; about forty perished. Dreadful, to be
wrecked so near a large and populous town! The view of Old and
New Aberdeen from the sea is quite beautiful. About noon
proceed along the coast of Aberdeenshire, which, to the
northwards, changes from a bold and rocky to a low and sandy
character. Along the bay of Belhelvie, a whole parish was
swallowed up by the shifting sands, and is still a desolate waste.
It belonged to the Earls of Errol, and was rented at £500 a year
at the time. When these sands are passed the land is all arable.
Not a tree to be seen; nor a grazing cow, or sheep, or even a
labor-horse at grass, though this be Sunday. The next remarkable
object was a fragment of the old castle of Slains, on a precipitous
bank, overlooking the sea. The fortress was destroyed when
James VI. marched north [A. D. 1594], after the battle of
Glenlivet, to reduce Huntly and Errol to obedience. The family
then removed to their present mean habitation, for such it
seems, a collection of low houses forming a quadrangle, one side
of which is built on the very verge of the precipice that
overhangs the ocean. What seems odd, there are no stairs down
to the beach. Imprudence, or ill-fortune as fatal as the sands of
Belhelvie, has swallowed up the estate of Errol, excepting this
dreary mansion-house, and a farm or two adjoining. We took to
the boat, and running along the coast had some delightful sea-
views to the northward of the castle. The coast is here very
rocky; but the rocks, being rather soft, are wasted and corroded
by the constant action of the waves,—and the fragments which
remain, where the softer parts have been washed away, assume
the appearance of old Gothic ruins. There are open arches,
towers, steeples, and so forth. One part of this scaur is called
Dunbuy, being colored yellow by the dung of the sea-fowls, who
build there in the most surprising numbers. We caught three
young gulls. But the most curious object was the celebrated
Buller of Buchan, a huge rocky cauldron, into which the sea
rushes through a natural arch of rock. I walked round the top; in
one place the path is only about two feet wide, and a monstrous
precipice on either side. We then rowed into the cauldron or
buller from beneath, and saw nothing around us but a regular
wall of black rock, and nothing above but the blue sky. A fishing
hamlet had sent out its inhabitants, who, gazing from the brink,
looked like sylphs looking down upon gnomes. In the side of the
cauldron opens a deep black cavern. Johnson says it might be a
retreat from storms, which is nonsense. In a high gale the waves
rush in with incredible violence. An old fisher said he had seen
them flying over the natural wall of the buller, which cannot be
less than 200 feet high. Same old man says Slains is now
inhabited by a Mr. Bowles, who comes so far from the southward
that naebody kens whare he comes frae. 'Was he frae the
Indies?'—'Na; he did not think he came that road. He was far
frae the southland. Naebody ever heard the name of the place;
but he had brought more guid out o' Peterhead than a' the Lords
he had seen in Slains, and he had seen three.' About half-past
five we left this interesting spot, and after a hard pull reached
the yacht. Weather falls hazy, and rather calm; but at sea we
observe vessels enjoying more wind. Pass Peterhead, dimly
distinguishing two steeples and a good many masts.
Mormounthill said to resemble a coffin—a likeness of which we
could not judge, Mormount being for the present invisible. Pass
Rattray-Head: near this cape are dangerous shelves, called the
Bridge of Rattray. Here the wreck of the Doris merchant vessel
came on shore, lost last year with a number of passengers for
Shetland. We lie off all night.

"1st August.—Off Fraserburgh—a neat little town. Mr.

Stevenson and the Commissioners go on shore to look at a light
maintained there upon an old castle, on a cape called Kinnaird's
Head. The morning being rainy, and no object of curiosity ashore,
I remain on board, to make up my journal, and write home.

"The old castle, now bearing the light, is a picturesque object

from the sea. It was the baronial mansion of the Frasers, now
Lords Saltoun—an old square tower with a minor fortification
towards the landing-place on the sea-side. About eleven, the
Commissioners came off, and we leave this town, the extreme
point of the Moray Firth, to stretch for Shetland—salute the
castle with three guns, and stretch out with a merry gale. See
Mormount, a long flattish-topped hill near to the West
Trouphead, and another bold cliff promontory projecting into the
firth. Our gale soon failed, and we are now all but becalmed;
songs, ballads, recitations, backgammon, and piquet, for the rest
of the day. Noble sunset and moon rising; we are now out of
sight of land.

"2d August.—At sea in the mouth of the Moray Firth. This day
almost a blank—light baffling airs, which do us very little good;
most of the landsmen sick, more or less; piquet, backgammon,
and chess, the only resources.—P.M. A breeze, and we begin to
think we have passed the Fair Isle, lying between Shetland and
Orkney, at which it was our intention to have touched. In short,
like one of Sinbad's adventures, we have run on till neither
captain nor pilot know exactly where we are. The breeze
increases—weather may be called rough; worse and worse after
we are in our berths, nothing but booming, trampling, and
whizzing of waves about our ears, and ever and anon, as we fall
asleep, our ribs come in contact with those of the vessel; hail
Duff and the Udaller[62] in the after-cabin, but they are too sick
to answer. Towards morning, calm (comparative), and a nap.

"3d August.—At sea as before; no appearance of land;

proposed that the Sheriff of Zetland do issue a meditatione fugæ
warrant against his territories, which seem to fly from us. Pass
two whalers; speak the nearest, who had come out of Lerwick,
which is about twenty miles distant; stand on with a fine breeze.
About nine at night, with moonlight and strong twilight, we
weather the point of Bard-head, and enter a channel about three
quarters of a mile broad which forms the southern entrance to
the harbor of Lerwick, where we cast anchor about half-past ten,
and put Mr. Turnbull on shore.

"4th August.—Harbor of Lerwick. Admire the excellence of this

harbor of the metropolis of Shetland. It is a most beautiful place,
screened on all sides from the wind by hills of a gentle elevation.
The town, a fishing village built irregularly upon a hill ascending
from the shore, has a picturesque appearance. On the left is Fort
Charlotte, garrisoned of late by two companies of veterans. The
Greenlandmen, of which nine fine vessels are lying in the harbor,
add much to the liveliness of the scene. Mr. Duncan, Sheriff-
substitute, came off to pay his respects to his principal; he is
married to a daughter of my early acquaintance, Walter Scott of
Scotshall. We go ashore. Lerwick, a poor-looking place, the
streets flagged instead of being causewayed, for there are no
wheel-carriages. The streets full of drunken riotous sailors from
the whale-vessels. It seems these ships take about 1000 sailors
from Zetland every year, and return them as they come back
from the fishery. Each sailor may gain from £20 to £30, which is
paid by the merchants of Lerwick, who have agencies from the
owners of the whalers in England. The whole return may be
between £25,000 and £30,000. These Zetlanders, as they get a
part of this pay on landing, make a point of treating their English
messmates, who get drunk of course, and are very riotous. The
Zetlanders themselves do not get drunk, but go straight home to
their houses, and reserve their hilarity for the winter season,
when they spend their wages in dancing and drinking. Erskine
finds employment as Sheriff, for the neighborhood of the fort
enables him to make main forte, and secure a number of the
rioters. We visit F. Charlotte, which is a neat little fort mounting
ten heavy guns to the sea, but only one to the land. Major F., the
Governor, showed us the fort; it commands both entrances of the
harbor: the north entrance is not very good, but the south
capital. The water in the harbor is very deep, as frigates of the
smaller class lie almost close to the shore. Take a walk with
Captain M'Diarmid, a gentlemanlike and intelligent officer of the
garrison; we visit a small fresh-water loch called Cleik-him-in; it
borders on the sea, from which it is only divided by a sort of
beach, apparently artificial: though the sea lashes the outside of
this beach, the water of the lake is not brackish. In this lake are
the remains of a Picts' castle, but ruinous. The people think the
castle has not been built on a natural island, but on an artificial
one formed by a heap of stones. These Duns or Picts' castles are
so small, it is impossible to conceive what effectual purpose they
could serve excepting a temporary refuge for the chief.—Leave
Cleik-him-in, and proceed along the coast. The ground is
dreadfully encumbered with stones; the patches which have been
sown with oats and barley bear very good crops, but they are
mere patches, the cattle and ponies feeding amongst them, and
secured by tethers. The houses most wretched, worse than the
worst herd's house I ever saw. It would be easy to form a good
farm by enclosing the ground with Galloway dykes, which would
answer the purpose of clearing it at the same time of stones; and
as there is plenty of limeshell, marle, and alga-marina, manure
could not be wanting. But there are several obstacles to
improvement, chiefly the undivided state of the properties, which
lie run-rig; then the claims of Lord Dundas, the lord of the
country, and above all, perhaps, the state of the common people,
who, dividing their attention between the fishery and the
cultivation, are not much interested in the latter, and are often
absent at the proper times of labor. Their ground is chiefly dug
with the spade, and their ploughs are beyond description
awkward. An odd custom prevails: any person, without exception
(if I understand rightly), who wishes to raise a few kail, fixes
upon any spot he pleases, encloses it with a dry stone wall, uses
it as a kailyard till he works out the soil, then deserts it and
makes another. Some dozen of these little enclosures, about
twenty or thirty feet square, are in sight at once. They are called
planty-cruives; and the Zetlanders are so far from reckoning this
an invasion, or a favor on the part of the proprietor, that their
most exaggerated description of an avaricious person is one who
would refuse liberty for a planty-cruive; or to infer the greatest
contempt of another, they will say, they would not hold a planty-
cruive of him. It is needless to notice how much this license must
interfere with cultivation.

"Leaving the cultivated land, we turn more inland, and pass

two or three small lakes. The muirs are mossy and sterile in the
highest degree; the hills are clad with stunted heather,
intermixed with huge great stones; much of an astringent root
with a yellow flower, called Tormentil, used by the islanders in
dressing leather in lieu of the oak bark. We climbed a hill, about
three miles from Lerwick, to a cairn which presents a fine view of
the indented coast of the island, and the distant isles of Mousa
and others. Unfortunately the day is rather hazy—return by a
circuitous route, through the same sterile country. These muirs
are used as a commonty by the proprietors of the parishes in
which they lie, and each, without any regard to the extent of his
peculiar property, puts as much stock upon them as he chooses.
The sheep are miserable looking, hairy-legged creatures, of all
colors, even to sky-blue. I often wondered where Jacob got
speckled lambs; I think now they must have been of the
Shetland stock. In our return, pass the upper end of the little
lake of Cleik-him-in, which is divided by a rude causeway from
another small loch, communicating with it, however, by a sluice,
for the purpose of driving a mill. But such a mill! The wheel is
horizontal, with the cogs turned diagonally to the water; the
beam stands upright, and is inserted in a stone-quern of the old-
fashioned construction. This simple machine is enclosed in a
hovel about the size of a pig-sty—and there is the mill![63] There
are about 500 such mills in Shetland, each incapable of grinding
more than a sack at a time.

"I cannot get a distinct account of the nature of the land

rights. The Udal proprietors have ceased to exist, yet proper
feudal tenures seem ill understood. Districts of ground are in
many instances understood to belong to Townships or
Communities, possessing what may be arable by patches, and
what is muir as a commonty, pro indiviso. But then individuals of
such a Township often take it upon them to grant feus of
particular parts of the property thus possessed pro indiviso. The
town of Lerwick is built upon a part of the commonty of Sound,
the proprietors of the houses having feu-rights from different
heritors of that Township, but why from one rather than another,
or how even the whole Township combining (which has not yet
been attempted) could grant such a right upon principle, seems
altogether uncertain. In the mean time the chief stress is laid
upon occupance. I should have supposed, upon principle that
Lord Dundas, as superior, possessed the dominium eminens, and
ought to be resorted to as the source of land rights. But it is not
so. It has been found that the heritors of each Township hold
directly of the Crown, only paying the Scat, or Norwegian land-
tax, and other duties to his lordship, used and wont. Besides, he
has what are called property lands in every Township, or in most,
which he lets to his tenants. Lord Dundas is now trying to
introduce the system of leases and a better kind of agriculture.
[64] Return home and dine at Sinclair's, a decent inn—Captain
M'Diarmid and other gentlemen dine with us.—Sleep at the inn
on a straw couch.
 "5th August 1814.—Hazy disagreeable morning;—Erskine
trying the rioters—notwithstanding which, a great deal of rioting
still in the town. The Greenlanders, however, only quarrelled
among themselves, and the Zetland sailors seemed to exert
themselves in keeping peace. They are, like all the other
Zetlanders I have seen, a strong, clear-complexioned, handsome
race, and the women are very pretty. The females are rather
slavishly employed, however, and I saw more than one carrying
home the heavy sea-chests of their husbands, brothers, or
lovers, discharged from on board the Greenlanders. The
Zetlanders are, however, so far provident, that when they enter
the navy they make liberal allowance of their pay for their wives
and families. Not less than £15,000 a year has been lately paid
by the Admiralty on this account; yet this influx of money, with
that from the Greenland fishery, seems rather to give the means
of procuring useless indulgences than of augmenting the stock of
productive labor. Mr. Collector Ross tells me that from the King's
books it appears that the quantity of spirits, tea, coffee, tobacco,
snuff, and sugar, imported annually into Lerwick for the
consumption of Zetland, averages at sale price, £20,000 yearly,
at the least. Now the inhabitants of Zetland, men, women, and
children, do not exceed 22,000 in all, and the proportion of
foreign luxuries seems monstrous, unless we allow for the habits
contracted by the seamen in their foreign trips. Tea, in particular,
is used by all ranks, and porridge quite exploded.

"We parade Lerwick. The most remarkable thing is, that the
main street being flagged, and all the others very narrow lanes
descending the hill by steps, anything like a cart, of the most
ordinary and rude construction, seems not only out of question
when the town was built, but in its present state quite excluded.
A road of five miles in length, on the line between Lerwick and
Scalloway, has been already made—upon a very awkward and
expensive plan, and ill-lined as may be supposed. But it is
proposed to extend this road by degrees: carts will then be
introduced, and by crossing the breed of their ponies judiciously,
they will have Galloways to draw them. The streets of Lerwick
(as one blunder perpetrates another) will then be a bar to
improvement, for till the present houses are greatly altered, no
cart can approach the quay. In the garden of Captain Nicolson, R.
N., which is rather in a flourishing state, he has tried various
trees, almost all of which have died except the willow. But the
plants seem to me to be injured in their passage; seeds would
perhaps do better. We are visited by several of the notables of
the island, particularly Mr. Mowat, a considerable proprietor, who
claims acquaintance with me as the friend of my father, and
remembers me as a boy. The day clearing up, Duff and I walk
with this good old gentleman to Cleik-him-in, and with some
trouble drag a boat off the beach into the fresh-water loch, and
go to visit the Picts' castle. It is of considerable size, and consists
of three circular walls of huge natural stones admirably combined
without cement. The outer circuit seems to have been simply a
bounding wall or bulwark; the second or interior defence contains
lodgments such as I shall describe. This inner circuit is
surrounded by a wall of about sixteen or eighteen feet thick,
composed, as I said, of huge massive stones placed in layers
with great art, but without mortar or cement. The wall is not
perpendicular, but the circle lessens gradually towards the top, as
an old-fashioned pigeon-house. Up the interior of this wall there
proceeds a circular winding gallery ascending in the form of an
inclined plane, so as to gain the top by circling round like a
corkscrew within the walls. This is enlightened by little apertures
(about two feet by three) into the inside, and also, it is said, by
small slits—of which I saw none. It is said there are marks of
galleries within the circuit, running parallel to the horizon; these I
saw no remains of; and the interior gallery, with its apertures, is
so extremely low and narrow, being only about three feet square,
that it is difficult to conceive how it could serve the purpose of
communication. At any rate, the size fully justifies the tradition
prevalent here as well as in the south of Scotland, that the Picts
were a diminutive race. More of this when we see the more
perfect specimen of a Pict castle in Mousa, which we resolve to
examine, if it be possible. Certainly I am deeply curious to see
what must be one of the most ancient houses in the world, built
by a people who, while they seem to have bestowed much pains
on their habitations, knew neither the art of cement, of arches,
or of stairs. The situation is wild, dreary, and impressive. On the
land side are huge sheets and fragments of rocks, interspersed
with a stinted vegetation of grass and heath, which bears no
proportion to the rocks and stones. From the top of his tower the
Pictish Monarch might look out upon a stormy sea, washing a
succession of rocky capes, reaches, and headlands, and
immediately around him was the deep fresh-water loch on which
his fortress was constructed. It communicates with the land by a
sort of causeway, formed, like the artificial islet itself, by heaping
together stones till the pile reached the surface of the water. This
is usually passable, but at present overflooded.—Return and dine
with Mr. Duncan, Sheriff-substitute—are introduced to Dr.
Edmonstone, author of a History of Shetland, who proposes to
accompany us to-morrow to see the Cradle of Noss. I should
have mentioned that Mr. Stevenson sailed this morning with the
yacht to survey some isles to the northward; he returns on
Saturday, it is hoped.

"6th August.—Hire a six-oared boat, whaler-built, with a taper

point at each end, so that the rudder can be hooked on either at
pleasure. These vessels look very frail, but are admirably adapted
to the stormy seas, where they live when a ship's boat stiffly and
compactly built must necessarily perish. They owe this to their
elasticity and lightness. Some of the rowers wear a sort of coats
of dressed sheep leather, sewed together with thongs. We sailed
out at the southern inlet of the harbor, rounding successively the
capes of the Hammer, Kirkubus, the Ving, and others, consisting
of bold cliffs, hollowed into caverns, or divided into pillars and
arches of fantastic appearance, by the constant action of the
waves. As we passed the most northerly of these capes, called, I
think, the Ord, and turned into the open sea, the scenes became
yet more tremendously sublime. Rocks upwards of three or four
hundred feet in height presented themselves in gigantic
succession, sinking perpendicularly into the main, which is very
deep even within a few fathoms of their base. One of these
capes is called the Bard-head; a huge projecting arch is named
the Giant's Leg.

'Here the lone sea-bird wakes its wildest cry.'[65]

Not lone, however, in one sense, for their numbers and the
variety of their tribes are immense, though I think they do not
quite equal those of Dunbuy, on the coast of Buchan. Standing
across a little bay, we reached the Isle of Noss, having hitherto
coasted the shore of Bressay. Here we see a detached and
precipitous rock, or island, being a portion rent by a narrow
sound from the rest of the cliff, and called the Holm. This
detached rock is wholly inaccessible, unless by a pass of peril,
entitled the Cradle of Noss, which is a sort of wooden chair,
travelling from precipice to precipice on rings, which run upon
two cables stretched across over the gulf. We viewed this
extraordinary contrivance from beneath, at the distance of
perhaps one hundred fathoms at least. The boatmen made light
of the risk of crossing it, but it must be tremendous to a brain
disposed to be giddy. Seen from beneath, a man in the basket
would resemble a large crow or raven floating between rock and
rock. The purpose of this strange contrivance is to give the
tenant the benefit of putting a few sheep upon the Holm, the top
of which is level, and affords good pasture. The animals are
transported in the cradle by one at a time, a shepherd holding
them upon his knees. The channel between the Holm and the
isle is passable by boats in calm weather, but not at the time
when we saw it. Rowing on through a heavy tide, and nearer the
breakers than any but Zetlanders would have ventured, we
rounded another immensely high cape, called by the islanders
the Noup of Noss, but by sailors Hang-cliff, from its having a
projecting appearance. This was the highest rock we had yet
seen, though not quite perpendicular. Its height has never been
measured: I should judge it exceeds 600 feet; it has been
conjectured to measure 800 and upwards. Our steersman had
often descended this precipitous rock, having only the occasional
assistance of a rope, one end of which he secured from time to
time round some projecting cliff. The collecting sea-fowl for their
feathers was the object, and he might gain five or six dozen,
worth eight or ten shillings, by such an adventure. These huge
precipices abound with caverns, many of which run much farther
into the rock than any one has ventured to explore. We entered
(with much hazard to our boat) one called the Orkney-man's
Harbor, because an Orkney vessel run in there some years since
to escape a French privateer. The entrance was lofty enough to
admit us without striking the mast, but a sudden turn in the
direction of the cave would have consigned us to utter darkness
if we had gone in farther. The dropping of the sea-fowl and
cormorants into the water from the sides of the cavern, when
disturbed by our approach, had something in it wild and terrible.

"After passing the Noup, the precipices become lower, and sink
into a rocky shore with deep indentations, called by the natives,
Gios. Here we would fain have landed to visit the Cradle from the
top of the cliff, but the surf rendered it impossible. We therefore
rowed on like Thalaba, in 'Allah's name,' around the Isle of Noss,
and landed upon the opposite side of the small sound which
divides it from Bressay. Noss exactly resembles in shape
Salisbury crags, supposing the sea to flow down the valley called
the Hunter's bog, and round the foot of the precipice. The
eastern part of the isle is fine smooth pasture, the best I have
seen in these isles, sloping upwards to the verge of the
tremendous rocks which form its western front.

"As we are to dine at Gardie-House (the seat of young Mr.

Mowat), on the Isle of Bressay, Duff and I—who went together
on this occasion—resolve to walk across the island, about three
miles, being by this time thoroughly wet. Bressay is a black and
heathy isle, full of little lochs and bogs. Through storm and
shade, and dense and dry, we find our way to Gardie, and have
then to encounter the sublunary difficulties of wanting the keys
of our portmanteaus, etc., the servants having absconded to see
the Cradle. These being overcome, we are most hospitably
treated at Gardie. Young Mr. Mowat, son of my old friend, is an
improver, and a moderate one. He has got a ploughman from
Scotland, who acts as grieve, but as yet with the prejudices and
inconveniences which usually attach themselves to the most
salutary experiments. The ploughman complains that the
Zetlanders work as if a spade or hoe burned their fingers, and
that though they only get a shilling a day, yet the labor of three
of them does not exceed what one good hand in Berwickshire
would do for 2s. 6d. The islanders retort that a man can do no
more than he can; that they are not used to be taxed to their
work so severely; that they will work as their fathers did, and not
otherwise; and at first the landlord found difficulty in getting
hands to work under his Caledonian task-master. Besides, they
find fault with his ho, and gee, and wo, when ploughing. 'He
speaks to the horse,' they say, 'and they gang—and there's
something no canny about the man.' In short, between the
prejudices of laziness and superstition, the ploughman leads a
sorry life of it;—yet these prejudices are daily abating, under the
steady and indulgent management of the proprietor. Indeed,
nowhere is improvement in agriculture more necessary. An old-
fashioned Zetland plough is a real curiosity. It had but one
handle, or stilt, and a coulter, but no sock; it ripped the furrow,
therefore, but did not throw it aside. When this precious machine
was in motion, it was dragged by four little bullocks yoked
abreast, and as many ponies harnessed, or rather strung, to the
plough by ropes and thongs of rawhide. One man went before,
walking backward, with his face to the bullocks, and pulling them
forward by main strength. Another held down the plough by its
single handle, and made a sort of slit in the earth, which two
women, who closed the procession, converted into a furrow, by
throwing the earth aside with shovels. An antiquary might be of
opinion that this was the very model of the original plough
invented by Triptolemus; and it is but justice to Zetland to say,
that these relics of ancient agricultural art will soon have all the
interest attached to rarity. We could only hear of one of these
ploughs within three miles of Lerwick.

"This and many other barbarous habits to which the Zetlanders

were formerly wedded seem only to have subsisted because their
amphibious character of fishers and farmers induced them to
neglect agricultural arts. A Zetland farmer looks to the sea to pay
his rent; if the land finds him a little meal and kail, and (if he be
a very clever fellow) a few potatoes, it is very well. The more
intelligent part of the landholders are sensible of all this, but
argue like men of good sense and humanity on the subject. To
have good farming, you must have a considerable farm, upon
which capital may be laid out to advantage. But to introduce this
change suddenly would turn adrift perhaps twenty families, who
now occupy small farms pro indiviso, cultivating by patches, or
rundale and runrig, what part of the property is arable, and
stocking the pasture as a common upon which each family turns
out such stock as they can rear, without observing any proportion
as to the number which it can support. In this way many
townships, as they are called, subsist indeed, but in a precarious
and indigent manner. Fishing villages seem the natural resource
for this excess of population; but, besides the expense of
erecting them, the habits of the people are to be considered,
who, with 'one foot on land and one on sea,' would be with equal
reluctance confined to either element. The remedy seems to be,
that the larger proprietors should gradually set the example of
better cultivation, and introduce better implements. They will, by
degrees, be imitated by the inferior proprietors, and by their
tenants; and, as turnips and hay crops become more general, a
better and heavier class of stock will naturally be introduced.

"The sheep in particular might be improved into a valuable

stock, and would no doubt thrive, since the winters are very
temperate. But I should be sorry that extensive pasture farms
were introduced, as it would tend to diminish a population
invaluable for the supply of our navy. The improvement of the
arable land, on the contrary, would soon set them beyond the
terrors of famine with which the islanders are at present
occasionally visited; and, combined with fisheries, carried on not
by farmers, but by real fishers, would amply supply the
inhabitants, without diminishing the export of dried fish. This
separation of trades will in time take place, and then the
prosperous days of Zetland will begin. The proprietors are
already upon the alert, studying the means of gradual
improvement, and no humane person would wish them to drive it
on too rapidly, to the distress and perhaps destruction of the
numerous tenants who have been bred under a different system.

"I have gleaned something of the peculiar superstitions of the

Zetlanders, which are numerous and potent. Witches, fairies,
etc., are as numerous as ever they were in Teviotdale. The latter
are called Trows, probably from the Norwegian Dwärg (or dwarf)
the D being readily converted into T. The dwarfs are the prime
agents in the machinery of Norwegian superstition. The trows do
not differ from the fairies of the Lowlands, or Sighean of the
Highlanders. They steal children, dwell within the interior of
green hills, and often carry mortals into their recesses. Some, yet
alive, pretend to have been carried off in this way, and obtain
credit for the marvels they tell of the subterranean habitations of
the trows. Sometimes, when a person becomes melancholy and
low-spirited, the trows are supposed to have stolen the real
being, and left a moving phantom to represent him. Sometimes
they are said to steal only the heart—like Lancashire witches.
There are cures in each case. The party's friends resort to a
cunning man or woman, who hangs about the neck a triangular
stone in the shape of a heart, or conjures back the lost
individual, by retiring to the hills and employing the necessary
spells. A common receipt, when a child appears consumptive and
puny, is that the conjurer places a bowl of water on the patient's
head, and pours melted lead into it through the wards of a key.
The metal assumes of course a variety of shapes, from which he
selects a portion, after due consideration, which is sewn into the
shirt of the patient. Sometimes no part of the lead suits the
seer's fancy. Then the operation is recommenced, until he
obtains a fragment of such a configuration as suits his mystical
purpose. Mr. Duncan told us he had been treated in this way
when a boy.

"A worse and most horrid opinion prevails, or did prevail,

among the fishers—namely, that he who saves a drowning man
will receive at his hands some deep wrong or injury. Several
instances were quoted to-day in company, in which the utmost
violence had been found necessary to compel the fishers to
violate this inhuman prejudice. It is conjectured to have arisen as
an apology for rendering no assistance to the mariners as they
escaped from a shipwrecked vessel, for these isles are infamous
for plundering wrecks. A story is told of the crew of a stranded
vessel who were warping themselves ashore by means of a
hawser which they had fixed to the land. The islanders (of Unst,
as I believe) watched their motions in silence, till an old man
reminded them that if they suffered these sailors to come ashore,
they would consume all their winter stock of provisions. A
Zetlander cut the hawser, and the poor wretches, twenty in
number, were all swept away. This is a tale of former times—the
cruelty would not now be active; but I fear that even yet the
drowning mariner would in some places receive no assistance in
his exertions, and certainly he would in most be plundered to the
skin upon his landing. The gentlemen do their utmost to prevent
this infamous practice. It may seem strange that the natives
should be so little affected by a distress to which they are
themselves so constantly exposed. But habitual exposure to
danger hardens the heart against its consequences, whether to
ourselves or others. There is yet living a man—if he can be called
so—to whom the following story belongs: He was engaged in
catching sea-fowl upon one of the cliffs, with his father and
brother. All three were suspended by a cord, according to
custom, and overhanging the ocean, at the height of some
hundred feet. This man being uppermost on the cord, observed
that it was giving way, as unable to support their united weight.
He called out to his brother who was next to him—'Cut away a
nail below, Willie,' meaning he should cut the rope beneath, and
let his father drop. Willie refused, and bid him cut himself, if he
pleased. He did so, and his brother and father were precipitated
into the sea. He never thought of concealing or denying the
adventure in all its parts. We left Gardie-House late; being on the
side of the Isle of Bressay, opposite to Lerwick, we were soon
rowed across the bay. A laugh with Hamilton,[66] whose gout
keeps him stationary at Lerwick, but whose good-humor defies
gout and every other provocation, concludes the evening.

"7th August, 1814.—Being Sunday, Duff, Erskine, and I rode to

Tingwall upon Zetland ponies, to breakfast with our friend Parson
Turnbull, who had come over in our yacht. An ill-conducted and
worse-made road served us four miles on our journey. This Via
Flaminia of Thule terminates, like its prototype, in a bog. It is,
however, the only road in these isles, except about half a mile
made by Mr. Turnbull. The land in the interior much resembles
the Peel-heights, near Ashestiel; but, as you approach the other
side of the island, becomes better. Tingwall is rather a fertile
valley, up which winds a loch of about two miles in length. The
kirk and manse stand at the head of the loch, and command a
view down the valley to another lake beyond the first, and
thence over another reach of land, to the ocean, indented by
capes and studded with isles; among which, that of St. Ninian's,
abruptly divided from the mainland by a deep chasm, is the most
conspicuous. Mr. Turnbull is a Jedburgh man by birth, but a
Zetlander by settlement and inclination. I have reason to be
proud of my countryman; he is doing his best, with great
patience and judgment, to set a good example both in temporals
and spirituals, and is generally beloved and respected among all
classes. His glebe is in far the best order of any ground I have
seen in Zetland. It is enclosed chiefly with dry-stone, instead of
the useless turf-dykes; and he has sown grass, and has a hay-
stack, and a second crop of clover, and may claim well-dressed
fields of potatoes, barley, and oats. The people around him are
obviously affected by his example. He gave us an excellent
discourse and remarkably good prayers, which are seldom the
excellence of the Presbyterian worship.[67] The congregation
were numerous, decent, clean, and well-dressed. The men have
all the air of seamen, and are a good-looking hardy race. Some
of the old fellows had got faces much resembling Tritons; if they
had had conchs to blow, it would have completed them. After
church, ride down the loch to Scalloway—the country wild but
pleasant, with sloping hills of good pasturage, and patches of
cultivation on the lower ground. Pass a huge standing stone or
pillar. Here, it is said, the son of an old Earl of the Orkneys met
his fate. He had rebelled against his father, and fortified himself
in Zetland. The Earl sent a party to dislodge him, who, not caring
to proceed to violence against his person, failed in the attempt.
The Earl then sent a stronger force, with orders to take him dead
or alive. The young Absalom's castle was stormed—he himself
fled across the loch, and was overtaken and slain at this pillar.
The Earl afterwards executed the perpetrators of this slaughter,
though they had only fulfilled his own mandate.

"We reach Scalloway, and visit the ruins of an old castle,

composed of a double tower or keep, with turrets at the corners.
It is the principal, if not the only ruin of Gothic times in Zetland,
and is of very recent date, being built in 1600. It was built by
Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, afterwards deservedly executed
at Edinburgh for many acts of tyranny and oppression. It was this
rapacious lord who imposed many of those heavy duties still
levied from the Zetlanders by Lord Dundas. The exactions by
which he accomplished this erection were represented as
grievous. He was so dreaded that upon his trial one Zetland
witness refused to say a word till he was assured that there was
no chance of the Earl returning to Scalloway. Over the entrance
of the castle are his arms, much defaced, with the unicorns of
Scotland for supporters, the assumption of which was one of the
articles of indictment. There is a Scriptural inscription also above
the door, in Latin, now much defaced:—

'PATRICIUS ORCHADIÆ ET ZETLANDIÆ COMES. A. D. 1600.

CUJUS FUNDAMEN SAXUM EST, DOMUS ILLA MANEBIT
STABILIS: E CONTRA, SI SIT ARENA, PERIT.'

"This is said to have been furnished to Earl Patrick by a

Presbyterian divine, who slyly couched under it an allusion to the
evil practices by which the Earl had established his power. He
perhaps trusted that the language might disguise the import
from the Earl.[68] If so, the Scottish nobility are improved in
literature, for the Duke of Gordon pointed out an error in the
Latinity.

"Scalloway has a beautiful and very safe harbor, but as it is

somewhat difficult of access, from a complication of small
islands, it is inferior to Lerwick. Hence, though still nominally the
capital of Zetland, for all edictal citations are made at Scalloway,
it has sunk into a small fishing hamlet. The Norwegians made
their original settlement in this parish of Tingwall. At the head of
this loch, and just below the manse, is a small round islet
accessible by stepping-stones, where they held their courts;
hence the islet is called Law-ting—Ting, or Thing, answering to
our word business, exactly like the Latin negotium. It seems odd
that in Dumfries-shire, and even in the Isle of Man, where the
race and laws were surely Celtic, we have this Gothic word Ting
and Tingwald applied in the same way. We dined with Mr. Scott
of Scalloway, who, like several families of this name in Shetland,
is derived from the house of Scotstarvet. They are very clannish,
marry much among themselves, and are proud of their descent.
Two young ladies, daughters of Mr. Scott's, dined with us—they
were both Mrs. Scotts, having married brothers—the husband of
one was lost in the unfortunate Doris. They were pleasant,
intelligent women, and exceedingly obliging. Old Mr. Scott seems
a good country gentleman. He is negotiating an exchange with
Lord Dundas, which will give him the Castle of Scalloway and two
or three neighboring islands: the rest of the archipelago (seven, I
think, in number) are already his own. He will thus have
command of the whole fishing and harbor, for which he parts
with an estate of more immediate value, lying on the other side
of the mainland. I found my name made me very popular in this
family, and there were many inquiries after the state of the
Buccleuch family, in which they seemed to take much interest. I
found them possessed of the remarkable circumstances
attending the late projected sale of Ancrum, and the death of Sir
John Scott, and thought it strange that, settled for three
generations in a country so distant, they should still take an
interest in those matters. I was loaded with shells and little
curiosities for my young people.

"There was a report (January was two years) of a kraken or

some monstrous fish being seen off Scalloway. The object was
visible for a fortnight, but nobody dared approach it, although I
should have thought the Zetlanders would not have feared the
devil if he came by water. They pretended that the suction, when
they came within a certain distance, was so great as to endanger
their boats. The object was described as resembling a vessel with
her keel turned upmost in the sea, or a small ridge of rock or
island. Mr. Scott thinks it might have been a vessel overset, or a
large whale: if the latter, it seems odd they should not have
known it, as whales are the intimate acquaintances of all Zetland
sailors. Whatever it was it disappeared after a heavy gale of
wind, which seems to favor the idea that it was the wreck of a
vessel. Mr. Scott seems to think Pontopiddan's narrations and
descriptions are much more accurate than we inland men
suppose; and I find most Zetlanders of the same opinion. Mr.
Turnbull, who is not credulous upon these subjects, tells me that
this year a parishioner of his, a well-informed and veracious
person, saw an animal, which, if his description was correct,
must have been of the species of sea-snake, driven ashore on
one of the Orkneys two or three years ago. It was very long, and
seemed about the thickness of a Norway log, and swam on the
top of the waves, occasionally lifting and bending its head. Mr. T.
says he has no doubt of the veracity of the narrator, but still
thinks it possible it may have been a mere log, or beam of wood,
and that the spectator may have been deceived by the motion of
the waves, joined to the force of imagination. This for the Duke
of Buccleuch.

"At Scalloway my curiosity was gratified by an account of the

sword-dance, now almost lost, but still practised in the Island of
Papa, belonging to Mr. Scott. There are eight performers, seven
of whom represent the Seven Champions of Christendom, who
enter one by one with their swords drawn, and are presented to
the eighth personage, who is not named. Some rude couplets are
spoken (in English, not Norse), containing a sort of panegyric
upon each champion as he is presented. They then dance a sort
of cotillion, as the ladies described it, going through a number of
evolutions with their swords. One of my three Mrs. Scotts readily
promised to procure me the lines, the rhymes, and the form of
the dance. I regret much that young Mr. Scott was absent during
this visit; he is described as a reader and an enthusiast in poetry.
Probably I might have interested him in preserving the dance, by
causing young persons to learn it. A few years since, a party of
Papa-men came to dance the sword-dance at Lerwick as a public
exhibition with great applause. The warlike dances of the
northern people, of which I conceive this to be the only remnant
in the British dominions,[69] are repeatedly alluded to by their
poets and historians. The introduction of the Seven Champions
savors of a later period, and was probably ingrafted upon the
dance when mysteries and moralities (the first scenic
representations) came into fashion. In a stall pamphlet, called
the history of Buckshaven, it is said those fishers sprung from
Danes, and brought with them their war-dance or sword-dance,
and a rude wooden cut of it is given. We resist the hospitality of
our entertainers, and return to Lerwick despite a most downright
fall of rain. My pony stumbles coming down hill; saddle sways
round, having but one girth and that too long, and lays me on
my back. N. B. The bogs in Zetland as soft as those in
Liddesdale. Get to Lerwick about ten at night. No yacht has
appeared.

"8th August.—No yacht, and a rainy morning; bring up my

journal. Day clears up, and we go to pay our farewell visits of
thanks to the hospitable Lerwegians, and at the Fort. Visit kind
old Mr. Mowat, and walk with him and Collector Ross to the point
of Quaggers, or Twaggers, which forms one arm of the southern
entrance to the sound of Bressay. From the eminence a delightful
sea view, with several of those narrow capes and deep reaches
or inlets of the sea, which indent the shores of that land. On the
right hand a narrow bay, bounded by the isthmus of Sound, with
a house upon it resembling an old castle. In the indenture of the
bay, and divided from the sea by a slight causeway, the lake of
Cleik-him-in, with its Pictish castle. Beyond this the bay opens
another yet; and, behind all, a succession of capes, headlands,
and islands, as far as the cape called Sumburgh-head, which is
the furthest point of Zetland in that direction. Inland, craggy, and
sable muirs, with cairns, among which we distinguish the Wart or
Ward of Wick, to which we walked on the 4th. On the left the
island of Bressay, with its peaked hill called the Wart of Bressay.
Over Bressay see the top of Hang-cliff. Admire the Bay of
Lerwick, with its shipping, widening out to the northwards, and
then again contracted into a narrow sound, through which the
infamous Bothwell was pursued by Kirkaldy of Grange, until he
escaped through the dexterity of his pilot, who sailed close along
a sunken rock, upon which Kirkaldy, keeping the weather-gage,
struck, and sustained damage. The rock is visible at low water,
and is still called the Unicorn, from the name of Kirkaldy's vessel.
Admire Mr. Mowat's little farm, of about thirty acres, bought
about twenty years since for £75, and redeemed from the
miserable state of the surrounding country, so that it now bears
excellent corn; here also was a hay crop. With Mr. Turnbull's it
makes two. Visit Mr. Ross, collector of the customs, who presents
me with the most superb collection of the stone axes (or adzes,
or whatever they are), called celts. The Zetlanders call them
thunder-bolts, and keep them in their houses as a receipt against
thunder; but the Collector has succeeded in obtaining several.
We are now to dress for dinner with the Notables of Lerwick,
who give us an entertainment in their Town-hall. Oho!

"Just as we were going to dinner, the yacht appeared, and Mr.

Stevenson landed. He gives a most favorable account of the isles
to the northward, particularly Unst. I believe Lerwick is the worst
part of Shetland. Are hospitably received and entertained by the
Lerwick gentlemen. They are a quick, intelligent race—chiefly of
Scottish birth, as appears from their names, Mowat, Gifford,
Scott, and so forth. These are the chief proprietors. The
Norwegian or Danish surnames, though of course the more
ancient, belong, with some exceptions, to the lower ranks. The
Veteran Corps expects to be disbanded, and the officers and
Lerwegians seem to part with regret. Some of the officers talk of
settling here. The price of everything is moderate, and the style
of living unexpensive. Against these conveniences are to be
placed a total separation from public life, news, and literature;
and a variable and inhospitable climate. Lerwick will suffer most
severely if the Fort is not occupied by some force or other; for,
between whiskey and frolic, the Greenland sailors will certainly
burn the little town. We have seen a good deal, and heard much
more, of the pranks of these unruly guests. A gentleman of
Lerwick, who had company to dine with him, observed beneath
his window a party of sailors eating a leg of roast mutton, which
he witnessed with philanthropic satisfaction, till he received the
melancholy information, that that individual leg of mutton, being
the very sheet-anchor of his own entertainment, had been
violently carried off from his kitchen, spit and all, by these honest
gentlemen, who were now devouring it. Two others, having
carried off a sheep, were apprehended, and brought before a
Justice of the Peace, who questioned them respecting the fact.
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