I personally also use subdivide and smooth aswell -- subdivide cuts a face in equal portions, as does smooth -- but smooth moves around the vertices to conform to the rounded-surface it BELIEVES you're attempting to make. Subdivide leaves your new faces contained in the planar surface of your original polygons.Originally posted by mtmckinley
It's true that I was not able to have each and every step in the book. For example, chapter 2 alone had over 120 images originally, but I had to cut it back to around 80 due to length concerns. The publisher actually wanted the book to be about 200 pages!
Also, earlier in the chapter, I go over many tools that are used throughout the tutorials, but are not necessarily mentioned each time they are used, due to necessary cutting for length.
But, to answer your question, using either the Split Polygon Tool (pg 17) or the Cut Faces tool (pg 66) are 2 methods of subdividing your mesh.
Hope that helps some. Good luck!