164 of 176 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Failing Calculus just got a lot easier!, July 31, 2004
This review is from: Calculus Demystified : A Self Teaching Guide (Demystified) (Paperback)
Let's say I am a totally evil person and I wanted to write a Calculus book that, disguised as a learning tool, would actually damage and destroy the ability for people to grasp and succeed in the subject. How would I go about doing it? Let's see, first off, I would take the simplest ideas in Calculus and either not explain them at all or see to it that the explanations are in the most ridiculously convoluted math jargon I could think of...and then I wouldn't explain what any of the jargon meant. Second, I would ask many questions that I would not provide the answers to so that the student can't see if they are getting it. Third, I would take great effort to call the book a "shorcut" and say it has an "easy to absorb" style to trick the innocent humans who buy it into thinking that THEY are simply lacking by not being able to grasp my mess. MWHAHAHAHAHAH! Well, guess what? Like all great ideas someone has already thought of all this (darn), and Calculus Demystified not only takes the crown for Calculus anti-learning, it incoporates all of the above ideas and more!
First, it must be mentioned that I have now taken a Calculus course and passed it with flying colors. Before the class was when I took an interest in this book, I decided to study up on the subject and purchased Calculus Demystified thinking it would help give me a head start. After about a week of "that", I went back to the store and purchased Calculus for Dummies, which then actually taught me Calculus and from there I proceeded to get an A in my class.
What exactly makes Calculus Demystified so horribly bad in comparison? It's not that the information is incorrect, now that I know what most of the ideas mean I paged back through it and can follow it. It's just that NOTHING is explained in a way that someone who didn't already know the subject could understand. For example, when you think of dealing with a line in Algebra you would probably assume the simpliest way to write it for discussion would be y=3x+7, right? Calculus Demystified would write this same line as y-4=3(x+1) and LEAVE it in that form. Now you may think, "that's ok, I know Algebra so how hard is it to convert it from there into a proper line so that I can easily identify the slope, y intercept, etc.", but what if you DIDN'T know Algebra and you were trying to learn what a line was for the first time from this example? This is the problem, I assume at least that most of us that buy this book don't know Calculus yet and this sort of confusing way of handling the math carries over into ALL of the Calculus ideas presented in this book. Everything is written in the most difficult to understand way possible. I especially love the way the author uses tons of different symbols for the derivative interchangeably (D/dx, F', etc.) without bothering to stop and tell you EXACTLY what the symbols are and why they are presented differently from problem to problem if they stand for the same exact idea? There is a reason, but you won't find a decent explanation for it in this book.
This crappiness doesn't just stop with the math either. I really love the idea of the "You try it" questions, none of which have ANY answers provided for them. This is inexcuseable for a "SELF TEACHING GUIDE" as this book calls itself. Who is supposed to correct your answers for you? A teacher? The teacher is you! I guess we are just supposed to pretend we are getting them right even if we have no idea if we actually are getting it (just like we can read some of the problems in the book and pretend that we are understanding Calculus even if we have no idea if we are actually getting it). How someone can write a 342 page book and not consider even for a moment that the target audience NEEDS the answers for these questions to be of any use whatsoever is beyond me.
But the greatest sin this book makes is in the content itself. This is supposed to be a book to "ease into the subject one simple step at a time" with a "user friendly, accessible style" as indicated on the back of the book. It is not at all this way. The book even states that "Calculus has two main aspects: differential calculus and integral calculus." The first alarm that should have gone off is that both ideas come and go within 100 pages (pg. 57-122 pretty much is it) with the rest being advanced applications of the ideas that you probably weren't able to learn in the short summaries given of all the important basic concepts. For example, for the explanation for finding the derivative in advanced cases (Product, Quotient, and Chain rules) you are a given a whole ONE page to learn all three ideas. You are expected to be able to have mastered these ideas and be able to solve complicated problems using them (without leaving room to make growing pain mistakes) starting on the very next page! A black hole couldn't assimilate those ideas that fast. The chapter on Integration is even worse, you are given a PARAGRAPH to understand the idea completely and are thrust immediately into Antiderivatives, skipping the Reimann Sum and Definite Integral building block explanation steps (that are supposed to lead you into the idea of Antiderivatives) almost entirely.
In the end, once you know Calculus, the book does have some entertainment value. As you page through it and look at the way the ideas are handled, you can't help but laugh at times when you see how ridiculously complicated he is making it. But then again, if you already know Calculus why would you buy a self teaching Calculus book to begin with?
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42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
FIND ANOTHER BOOK!!, March 2, 2006
This review is from: Calculus Demystified : A Self Teaching Guide (Demystified) (Paperback)
I haven't used calculus in over 30 years. I wanted to brush up on the subject. I bought this book. WHAT A MISTAKE!!
At first I thought I was getting denser with age. But eventually I realized that it was, in fact, this book. It is a horror. Even though I have had four semesters of calculus, little in this book looked familiar or made sense. If you are intimidated by mathematics or calculus, this book will convince you that you are inept. Don't believe it.
I returned this book and after some research I found two books that are wonderful.
"Calculus For Dummies" by Mark Ryan is a really great book. It is simple and direct. The subject is covered with humor and a lot of insights. I wish this book was available when I was studying the subject years ago. I honestly believe that I understand calculus much better today than when I graduated from college. There is an optional "Calculus Workbook For Dummies" also by Mark Ryan if you want some problem exercises (there are none in the book).
"Calculus Made Easy" by Silvanus P. Thompson and updated by Martin Gardner (a true genius). Although the book was originally published nearly 100 years ago, Mr. Gardner's updates have maintained the book as one of the best in print in this subject.
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43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Calculus Re-mystified, January 7, 2004
This review is from: Calculus Demystified : A Self Teaching Guide (Demystified) (Paperback)
If you think calculus is a difficult subject, this book will only convince you further. This book may be good for someone trying to brush up on calculus skills, but for those trying to learn it for the first time, it will do nothing but confuse. If you want a more easy to follow introduction to calculus, try Silvanus P Thompson's 'Calculus Made Easy'
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