About the Author
Before Alan Cook began building things, he spent many years taking things apart including his entire crib, the braces off his own teeth (twice!) and that hippie farm truck that only made left turns. He worked for many years in construction and cabinet making before switching gears, becoming a chiropractor. Working with patients is great but working with the medical insurance system was making him into a drooling rabid nutso beast. As a result, Al went back to building. He now designs and sells solar hot water systems and uses a lot more math. Al lives in Northern California with his family. They have a big garden and a small orchard. His kids know how to drive a tractor.
Some of Al’s goals for the future include: napping on a warm tropical beach, never singing in public or raising cattle again, eating an entire truck load of blueberries (there are witnesses who heard him say this…), dusting off his guitar (and playing it), scoring a few goals in the old guy soccer league, and of course – really cleaning up in his woodshop.
He hopes this book will be helpful to you.
How This Book is Arranged
The focus of the Number Yard is the building of a bungalow.
The chapters follow just as the phases of the project: lot layout, foundation, wall framing, all the way through to the trim out.
Interspersed are chapters that either review the math concepts of the previous chapter and/or introduce the math needed for the next chapter.
Take your time.
You will want to understand the math lessons of the early chapters so that you can apply them in later chapters and then on the job site.
You are using this book to actually learn math that will help you in your life – not to pass a school test.
