Customer Reviews

Calculus Made Easy

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Being an electrical engineer (with additional majors in mathematics and physics) and pushing twenty-five years work experience, I have to admit not a little anger at having read this book. This anger, however, stems from the facts a) that I was not fortunate enough to have had it as a resource while I was learning calculus and b) I have seen a lot of author-aggrandizing techno-babble dedicated to the subject that has served only to discourage the masses! Mr. Gardner has done a great service with regard to both Mr. Thompson's opus and all students of mathematics. With Mr. Gardner's additions, it is even simpler, more straightforward and, in terminology borrowed from the realm of pure mathematics, "elegant" in its presentation and demystification of the subject. To anyone beginning the study of calculus and desiring to understand and appreciate the subject, it is highly recommended for both reading and practice.

M. L. Sewell, Jr., 3/2000

I have been teaching Calculus for the last two years, and I just stumbled across this book a few weeks ago. What I found was a book that explains the philosophy of the subject in a very simple manner, making it easy to understand even for people who are not proficient in math.

The concepts in Calculus are really simple things; as Gardner puts it, "the universe seems to favor simplicity in its fundamental laws". But there's always the teacher's pride, which leads him to make it all seem difficult, expecting the student to be amazed at how much the teacher knows. Alas the true result is that the student is usually left confused, loses interest in the subject, perhaps gives up on a career that he/she otherwise would have succeeded in, etc. I know about this, because I am guilty of it myself.

I recommend this book to people who:

1. Are just learning calculus. The book uses easy-to-understand language, simple examples, etc. Read about the binomial theorem before reading this book, though.

2. People who want to grasp the essence of calculus, not necessarily for a college course. Easy, entertaining reading; as stated earlier, the philosophy of the subject is presented in a comprehensible manner.

3. Calculus teachers. Definitely a must! This book is a good example of how calculus should be taught. Though you may not draw totally upon it, having read through Thompson's book can give you a good idea on how to organize your course and how to explain fundamental concepts

After 3 years of advanced mathematics in college and an engineering degree, everything I knew about calculus was rote: I could come up with the answers, but not because I understood the underlying principles or basis, but because I could memorize procedures. Years out of school, I bought this book and read it, and the light bulb turned on. I don't know whether I was just a bad student before, had bad teachers, or simply was presented the material in a way that was incompatible with the way I learn. In any case, this book did it for me, and perhaps it will do the same for others. I've since gone back through my old college math books, and they're as difficult to understand as they were the first time. If you know someone struggling with calculus, do them a favor and get them this book.

Most calculus courses are taught to college freshman by graduate students who really didn't understand the course when they were freshman being taught by graduate students who didn't understand it when they were taught, etc, etc. Once you realize that most college instructors aren't proficient in the course to teach it, then you start to realize that if you're ever going to truly understand calculus, then you better find an alternative source of knowledge. And this book is exactly that source.

Read this book before you enter one of those imposing lecture halls (or at least the appropriate chapter of this book). Then and only then will you begin to at least recognize what the instructor is saying. And hopefully you will recognize when they're saying something that is not quite right.

Calculus is not hard; it's just not easy. This book probably should have been titled Calculus Made Understandable, or Caculus Made Fun, but it wasn't. So read the book and do the problems. It will open up a whole world of enjoyment that will last a lifetime.

Remember this very important point. Math was never learned in a lecture hall --- it's only truly learned in a study hall or library doing problems over and over and over.

Calculus Made Easy is truly a well-written book. It divides into over 20 chapters thorough examples and applications of calculus as well as the development of calculus itself, and everything is surprisingly contained in fewer than 300 pages! Authors of many modern-day calculus textbooks twice its size try to explain the same fundamental concepts but cannot achieve Thompson's levels of triumph.

Topics in this work include: limits, maxima, minima, successive differentiation, compound interest, law of organic growth, and more. Though the subjects are frequently isolated for each chapter, Thompson has nonetheless provided insights to the degree that one could synthesize or put together these various concepts to formulate their own interesting problems and procedures.

With the great Martin Gardner to revise this classic and to provide further mathematical expositions, Calculus Made Easy is highly recommended for the lover of mathematics as well as the teacher who wants to present mathematics from a better thematic standpoint.

What one fool can do, another can.

Or so goes the introduction to "Calculus Made Easy" by Silvanus P. Thompson. He's right, of course. I should know because I'm a fool myself.

One of the great things about this book is Thompson's surprising sense of humor. I just wasn't expecting a math text, written nearly a century ago, to be so irreverent. In fact, the author goes out of his way to slam the math professors of his day and their methods of teaching. Some things never change.

Speaking of fools. I flunked out of pre-algebra in the 8th grade, dropped out of high-school at 15, and did not return to college until I was 28. I had my sights set on a computer engineering degree; however, I knew that in order to achieve my goals I would need to go back and slay those math demons from my past.

After completing the algebra stuff with surprising ease, I now venture into "the calculus", as they call it. Just those words "the calculus" are enough to strike fear in the hearts of millions. Isn't calculus for nerdy, Cal-Tech types? Can mere mortals, fools even, understand how to integrate a simple funtion? It's telling that a rather large percentage of those who enroll in calculus every year end up dropping the class. What a shame, because as it turns out, according to Thompson, the real fools are the professors themselves.

Thompson's book will demystify much of the material from a first-semester calculus course. You will learn differentiation, integration, lengths of curves, etc., all quite painlessly (well, you'll have to put in the practice time).

Of course, one will need to be comfortable with algebra in order to pick up a book such as this, but trig and geometry are also helpful as some of the functions are trigonometric. I should point out, though, that you don't absolutely NEED trigonometry to do calculus. What little you do need can be picked up rather quickly from a book like "Geometry and Trigonometry for Calculus."

My advice: if you are about to enter a calculus 1 course (as I am), then spend some time with this book. It will give you a great head start on the class and is surprisingly readable.

This is the very best math book I have ever read. As many other reviewers have pointed out, this book is an excellent source for UNDERSTANDING calculus!!! If you want to understand calculus, this book is an outstandingly excellent beginning. I studied calculus over 30 years ago as a math major. I currently teach mathematics and was absolutely stunned when I ran across this wonderful, beautful, lucid exposition of the differential and integral calculus. Dr. Thompson is surely ranked among the greatest math teachers of all time. Of course, Martin Gardner's revision simply increases the lucidity, joy and beauty of this mathematics classic. MUST reading for any literate and intelligent person, who wants to UNDERSTAND mathematics. There are tons of books that one can read in order to learn how to "do" mathematics, but Thompson's book is in a class by itself, when it comes to excellence in teaching mathematial understanding. I simply cannot find the words to describe the sheer joy and wonder I experienced while reading Calculus Made Easy!!!!

I went thru 5 years of college, emerging with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I never really understood the foundations of calculus, but managed to pass the math classes by learning by rote. Years later, I discovered this book, and it was truely a revelation. I now know what 5 years of high-level education failed to teach me. This book explains things in ways that my other math books never did. If I'd had this when I entered college, math classes wouldn't have been such a struggle. If you're about to begin taking calculus classes, I recommend that you read this first. It'll make your life much easier.

The mathematicians who write textbooks are invariably sadistic cretins with either no aptitude for effective communication or contempt for it. The dirty little secret of the textbook world is that students don't pick textbooks, so meeting a student's needs isn't a publisher's goal. A textbook author's primary goal is to solicit the approval and support of other academics. This is not a system that often rewards clarity or readable prose. After reading this book, I realized that calculus is really very simple and is based on a relatively small set of simple rules. It's incredible beauty and power comes from it's simplicity. Mathematicians have a habit of making very simple concepts sound more complicated than they are. A Definite Integral for instance, which is governed by something audaciously called The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, is subtraction - fricking subtraction. Anyone who couldn't "derive it" when needed should probably switch to a career that involves flame broiling and extra cheese. The obviousness of the Fundamental Theorem doesn't make it any less significant, but it does prove that the "hardness" of math is a function of how pretentious the expositor is. Thompson's relatively down to Earth and casual style helped me get excited about math again. If you're like me, you'll find yourself wondering what all the fuss was about after working through this book. It's a great book and an absolute must for anyone taking their first stab at calculus, especially if your professor is from Bangledesh and bribed someone to pass the TOEFL.

A topic as complicated as calculus can be approached in many different ways, each appealing to a different kind of audience at a different level of understanding. I began my second college career as a physics major and consequently had to take calculus. Despite a firm grasp of precalc algebra and trig, I didn't really grasp the concepts at an intuitive level, which is necessary for facing anything other than very obvious problems cooked up for the occasion. Calculus Made Simple offered me a window into the crucial concepts and let me enter the mindset needed for tackling calculus problems. I read the original version without the benefit of Martin Gardner's improvements (I am sure he did a spectacular job) so I am not sure about the new version, but the writing did seem a little dated at times. It didn't bother me, but I know for others who might already be turned off by having to learn calc, it could just be another detail that pushes them away. A more modern approach is How to Ace Calculus, which I also found useful. Be warned, though, for those about to take calculus for engineering and the physical sciences, these books deal with grounding you in the most basic nuts and bolts of the subject. The problems you encounter in, say, the Thomas's calc textbook become waaaay more complicated than what you get in these guides. Regardless, I give the book high marks and hope you find it helpful too.