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70 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad at all, January 9, 2001
This review is from: Calculus, Early Transcendentals (Hardcover)
I have taught calculus courses with this and other books, and this one is actually pretty good. I disagree with those reviewers that say that this is a "proof-oriented" book. Yes, many of the important theorems in calculus (the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, the Mean Value Theorem) are proven, but the topological ones like the Extreme Value Theorem and Intermediate Value Theorem are not (perhaps that's too much to ask of a first-year course for non-majors, however). There is an overuse of color in the text, and the accursed box is drawn around way too many things, logically equating theorems, definitions, principles, and terminologies specific to the book like "The Closed Interval Test". What the book is very good at is providing lots of real-life examples and problems. In fact, these save the book. Each chapter teases some of the more interesting ones (how fast does a turkey cool after you take it out of the oven?) There are extended problems called "Applied Projects." I was particularly impressed with those from the related rates and optimization sections. Problems like these are what turned me on to math. Just a few more theoretical problems would complete the picture, however. Many students can calculate derivatives of functions, but few will come away with an idea of what functions and derivatives really are. In summary, this is very good book for non-math majors (e.g., engineers). It needs only be supplemented in class with the foundational material. For majors, however, I recommend Spivak's _Calculus_ book.
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81 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Too Much, Yet Too Little, April 22, 2003
This review is from: Calculus, Early Transcendentals (Hardcover)
(review of 4th ed.) I have used this gargantuan book for three semesters now. This book is proof that quality does not equal quantity (1100+ pages). The book has lots of pictures, which I suppose is why it is so big. How do color photographs of nature scenes aid one's understanding of calculus? Answer: they don't...period. Yet for such a large book, coverage is quite sparse. The coverage starts with a slow introduction to functions, which I suppose is good for high-school students or students who lack the most basic mathematical background, but not for typical college students. Very little of the coverage has any depth, and too many proofs are 'outside the scope of this book'. By the time Stewart gets to vector calculus (covered in a single chapter), the coverage has become pure cookbook. For instance, divergence and curl are given as formulas, with no real discussion of their significance. Also, the book is organized very strangely. For instance, parametric equations and parametric surfaces are discussed in separate chapters. Even worse, the relationships between parametric curves, scalar fields and vector fields (the three types of multivariable functions) are never discussed. Perhaps it was just hard for me to see the relationships because they were on opposite sides of an 1100-page phonebook! Suggestion to Mr. Stewart: If you feel your book really needs to be so long winded, at least break the book into two or three volumes. Carrying my books to class shouldn't feel like boot camp!!! My friends think I'm carrying bricks in my backpack!!! And to the students: if you have a choice in the matter, consider either Apostol's "Calculus" or Spivak's "Calculus". If you are really adventurous, try Courant or maybe even Rudin. Also, for a pretty-good intro to vector calculus, check out Schey's "Div, Grad, Curl".
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29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent college calculus text, January 7, 2004
This review is from: Calculus, Early Transcendentals (Hardcover)
Contrary to what some reviewers have written, I feel that Stewart's Calculus book is easily the best textbook I have encountered so far in college. In my opinion, the best indication of a textbook's worth is having to learn the material solely through the text, instead in addition to a lecturer; this book passed that test with flying colors. Of course I had calculus lecturers, but every one of them was horrible. For Calc I (single variable), the professor spoke in a thick Russian accent; in Calc II (advanced integration/series, sequences), the professor was simply inadequate and didn't know how to explain anything; in Calc III (multivariable), the professor was a crazy Polish guy bent on teaching us calculus using his own weird linear algebra/advanced math methods (you'd think Berkeley might assign some better math professors...). In every case, I ended up shunning the lectures and learning everything straight from Stewart. Every chapter was teeming with great example problems, and wasn't saturated with unnecessary proofs (read the Principia or other advanced books if you're interested in that sort of thing). Perhaps the homework problems weren't always as challenging as other books, but I'd rather understand the problems than sit around staring an unsolvable puzzle for 3 hours. Again I say, best college text I've had so far. I highly recommend it.
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