Customer Reviews

Calculus

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Some reviewers have been puzzled as to the style of this book, deep mathematics for the unsophisticated reader. This is explained by its origin in the 1960's when many bright high school students were not offered calculus until college. Hence some top colleges experimented with very high level introductions to calculus aimed at gifted and committed students who had never seen calculus. Possibly Spivak took such a course, but certainly his book was used as the text for one at Harvard, and was still used more recently at a few schools still offering this course, such as University of Chicago.
Unfortunately today, due to the somewhat misguided AP movement, which is oriented to standardized test performance rather than understanding, almost all mathematically talented high school students take calculus before college, receiving significantly inferior preparation to what they would receive in college. The result is that many top colleges where the Spivak type course originated, no longer see the need to offer it.
This means that gifted freshmen at schools such as Harvard and Stanford are now asked to begin with an advanced honors calculus course for which Spivak is the ideal prerecquisite, although those same schools do not offer that prerecquisite. Thus if you are a high school student hoping to become a mathematician and planning to attend many elite colleges, almost the only way to be adequately prepared for an honors level mathematics program is to read this book first. It may be that a book like Stewart or even Calculus Made Easy, is useful as a first introduction to calculus, but it will not get you to the level you need for a course out of Apostol vol. 2, or Loomis and Sternberg.
Although some seasoned mathematicians eventually come to prefer other treatments such as those of Apostol or Courant, the appeal for a young student of Spivak's light hearted, clear, and enthusiastic presentation is probably unmatched by any other work. For forty years there has been a cult of fanatical adherents to the books of Spivak, and they still deliver the goods to the audience for which they are intended.
There is only one caveat that may even be unimportant for beginners, but it is that Spivak is almost too clear and thorough in his explanations. I.e. a future researcher needs to learn to question, to discover and work things out on his own, whereas Spivak explains everything for you. So every now and then resist reading his explanation and try working out a proof or a generalization on your own, and see if it doesn't become even clearer afterwards. Understanding how a proof was thought of is different from just knowing how it goes.

Calculus wasn't taught in public high schools 50 years ago -- our brains were thought too soft to encounter it under the age of 18. The 17 year old supermarket checkout girl where I live in rural New York will take it this fall. I've always been fascinated with math, particularly the inevitability of it all (how mathematicians were dragged kicking and screaming into imaginary numbers, non-Euclidean geomtery and the completed infinite). Despite minimal background, I was able to get A's in calculus, differential equations, and complex variables at Princeton back then. It was like my Bar Mitzvah, getting through by mumbling incantations in a language I didn't understand.

Figuring that I'd received a decent mathematical background, I tried studying math at a higher level 5 years ago when I left medical practice. Strichartz was dense and I spent hours puzzling over notation in the first edition (until I found that some of the most confusing parts were actually errors not all of which were corrected in the second paperback edition). I made it about half way through -- it just seemed too abstract. Abbott's book was also quite good, but again pure analysis is about the logical structure underneath mathematics (something I certainly was trying to understand).

Having read the rave reviews of Spivak's book in this forum, I bought it (along with the answer book), and have spent the last 8 months going through it, and doing about 3/4 of the problems. It is marvellous. The exposition is clear and friendly (as are Strichartz and Abbott) -- something not seen in the math books of the 50s (although Spivak's first edition goes back to 1968). Almost nothing is assumed (except the properties of the rational numbers). Everything is derived from them and clearly (including one construction of the real numbers from the rational numbers at the end and (typically) two more constructions of the reals in the problems at the end of that chapter). Even better -- the book doesn't just show you how mathematical consequences follow logically from inscrutible definitions. It shows you why the definitions must be the way they are. The chapter on the definitions and properties of the logarithmic and the exponential functions is aparticularly fine example of this technique and of Spivak's teaching style.

One does not study human anatomy by studying only the bones which hold up the physical structure, although without bones we are a just pile of goo. To learn anatomy one must also study the flesh draped on the (physical/logical) skeleton. This is also where Spivak excels. There are plenty of examples sprinkled throughout the text in addition to the logical structure -- several whole chapters are devoted to applications of the theory just developed. The real mathematical flesh is in the exercises. None of them are trivial. None are of the 'plug and chug' variety seen in Thomas-- which amazingly is still out there -- it was my text in 1956. They are best described as 'blink and think'. I don't think it would be possible to use the book for self-study with no teacher to talk to without getting the answer book. Spivak supplies answers and/or hints to only about 10% of the problems. The answer book does the rest (although I think it does contain a few typos).

The book would have been very difficult to use as a Freshman, with no calculus exposure while taking physics at the same time (which most of us did back then). Derivatives aren't introduced for a long time, and integrals even later. The Freshman physics course started right off with Newton's laws (this was John Wheeler after all). However, once Spivak gets you to derivatives and integrals you will understand them, rather than just mouthing formulas.

Spivak certainly isn't the only analysis book you'll need. Both Strichartz and Abbott go a lot farther. The book contains nothing about Fourier series or higher dimensions. However, Spivak is certainly the place to start if you want to understand "what's going on under the hood" as another reviewer put it. Hopefully I'll now be able to re-read Strichartz and Abbott having seen and pondered the mathematical flesh which is draped on the logical bones these two books discuss.

I agree with some of the previous reviewers that Spivak's book is a bit much for any but the brightest first-year calculus students. It would be quite the uncommon 17-18 year old who's disciplined and mature enough to rise to the challenge. Maybe with the guidance of an outstanding lecturer...

On the other hand, Spivak serves as excellent preparation for one's first real analysis course: ideally, read through this book (and, crucially, do ALL the exercises) the summer before introductory analysis, and you'll be in great shape to tackle the likes of Rudin's "Principles of Mathematical Analysis." In the process, you'll also build a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the material covered in first-year calculus.

Spivak's book is also a wonderful re-introduction to mathematics for those who've been away for a while. It's very well suited to independent study, and Spivak is an excellent teacher.

The book is carefully written, chatty but not informal, conversational but not overly long-winded. The exercises are challenging, but provide additional insight into the material and, more importantly, deepen your understanding and build your problem-solving and proof-writing skills. With patience and diligence they're all quite solvable by anyone who has, or who is serious about cultivating, a little mathematical maturity.

There are hundreds, even thousands, of books on Calculus. The good thing is that you can always find one that is best suited for your way of learning, and teachers always know which are best for their courses. The bad thing is that there are so many to choose that one ocasionally doesn't know how to start. I will not say that Spivak's book is the greatest or the worst (as many reviews do), because this is mostly a matter of taste. I will, instead, say what is different in Spivak's book from the other many calculus books that I know. Spivak's book reads as a romance. Indeed, you can be completely taken by his prose, and see the battle for arriving at the concepts in a rigorous, yet flexible, manner. Spivak sees calculus as the evolution of one idea - as he says in the preface to the first edition. And everyone who reads this book with attention understand what is this idea - I will not tell, not say who is the murderer of this romance. Will you finish this book and be a master of calculus? Will the exercises help? This depends mostly on you, as mathematics is, for the most, only understood when you create it in your mind, when you retrace every important step of this human endeavour inside of you. There are easier books, that's true. For those who want just to be able to use calculus, perhaps there are better ways. But Spivak succeeds to do one very difficult thing, that is, to explain mathematics, all its beauty and all its harmony, to a reader that possibly never really understood it. For one thing is to make calculations, learn how to solve equations and the like, but another thing very different is to understand what is mathematics about. To my knowledge, only Courant wrote in such passionately manner - and Spivak is clearly a follower of Courant's way of thinking. The difference between Courant and Spivak is that Courant is more worried about the applications of calculus, and Spivak is more worried about the essence of it (it doesn't make too big a difference, as both are, in a sense, the same thing told in two different ways). There is something that is really fantastic in this book: Spivak usually discuss with a lot of care the evolution of one idea since scratch up to its refined description in mathematical language - see how he arrives at the rigorous definition of a function. He also criticises the notations, and this is pretty useful to understand the concept behind the notation. If you are able to love mathematics (many people aren't), you will with the greatest probability appreciate this book.

According to my knowledge, this is one of the best calculus books in English for honors freshman. I personally rank the following star-calculus texts in such an order: T.M Apostol's > Michael Spivak's > R. Cournat's > Hijab's > James Stewar's. Apostol's texts provide a deeper understanding of the subject than do any other books. One must have a firm knowledge of elementary calculus if he wants to penetrate this "brightest" gem of calculus. Dr. Spivak's book, I think, is most suitable for those who desire challeges. This book contains many typical examples and problems, they are neither easy or single-step, and, therefore tends to always motivate students' minds. The other three are equally good. Hijab's has rigorous proofs and a lot of computational problems; Courant's has an excellent balance between theory and applications. While Dr. Stewart's tell you in more detail how to solve calculus problems, especially those somewhat challenging ones. All these are the "kings" of the world of calculus! Pick the best one for yourself.

I was a first year student at the University of Chicago when I first encountered this gem of a book. In the years since, I was forced to sell my copy, and regret it greatly.

Spivak's book kept me up many a winter night struggling through his problem sets from hell. But alas, that is how math is done, not from reading brilliantly worded expositions or proofs, but actually mastering the thought process underlying proofs as well as the elegant structure of the calculus itself which Spivak brings forth.

Think of it as unlearning everything you learned in AP Calculus and starting over from scratch, you won't even have to remember how to take a derivative or crunch an integral anymore....instead you'll find out the deeper story underlying it all.

This book is for Calculus what the Feynman Lectures are to Physics. This book teaches Calculus by developing the definition through intuition and reason. It does not teach a collection of techniques dispensed at random. Even the author mentions that this book might be better called "an introduction to analysis". His definition of a limit is certainly more clear and in many ways more rigorous than any book on analysis I have ever read. Some of the problems are actually quite challenging. Anyone one interested in reading this book must be prepared to follow his arguments very closely. This means, for most of us, the ability to read and write a proof. However, I am usually amazed that quite a few people who have never encountered the formality of proofs seem quite capable of following such rigorous material. This book covers quite a few abstract topics as well, such as the formation of the real number system and a little ring theory. If you are using this book for self study, you will need to do some of the problems, or at least work through his examples, if you want to follow this book. It is that complex.

I can understand why there is such a big gulf between the people who love this book and the people who hate it. If you are the kind of person who merely needs to be told the formulas to believe them and wants to use calculus as a tool, this is not the book for you. You will find it's assault of each theorem tiresome, and will probably find your brain battered and needlessly abused by the difficult exercises.

However, if what you want is something which will teach you to think mathematically, to know so well how and why calculus works that you feel like you could derive it all by yourself given stone knives and bear skins, then this book is for you... because that's essentially what it does.

In my time as a student, then later as a college professor type, I was fortunate indeed to know four excellent teachers. The kinds of teachers that make you enjoy the learning process (and when learning isn't both fun and challengingly difficult, its pretty worthless) even as they push, cajole, pull and help you through the tough spots.

Foremost among these was Mike Spivak - I encountered him in a summer math program for high school students where he put up with me (as a math student far from as good as most in the program) and gave me a love of mathematics that survives to this day (if only I were better at it).

His book "Calculus" did the same thing for me, and I still have a (battered) copy of it with his autograph - and it is one of my most treasured books - partly because of its association with him, but mostly because it is the book that brought calculus to life for me.

I suffered through freshman calculus (hated every minute of it - it took my enthusiasm for mathematics that Spivak had nurtured and made me wonder if I was really looking at the same subject) with Thomas's "Calculus and Analytic Geometry" which is, I suppose, excellent in its way - but the focus is far more on cookie cutter calculus - here is how you take a derivative and here is how you'd use it.

But while Thomas probably did manage to teach me how to evaluate a few integrals, Spivak got me to figure out why it mattered. And it was probably only the coverage of limits in this text that eventually led to my appreciation of the (oddly beautiful in its own way) epsilon-delta dance and how limits really make the calculus work.

It's not trivial going for the most part, but the patient reader will be amply rewarded, perhaps not with the worlds greatest facility for derivatives or integrals, but with a feel for what they really are under the hood.

To top it all off there are the extras : proofs that pi is irrational and that e is transcendental, a lucid and accessible construction of the real numbers, problems that teach more than just how to plug-and-chug, and humour (even in the index - check out "yellow pig").

Nobody (in any field) can be considered to be even minimally educated without at least mathematics to the level of the calculus - and this is the best text I know of that really explains what its about without being a plug-n-chug manual. It was written for an honours program at an "elite" university, but still should be acessible for someone with a good background in algebra who is willing to work and has a bit of help. (If it could only be Mike Spivak himself, you'd be among the most fortunate few.)

And - if you know talented high schoolers with an interest in math - give them this before AP Calculus or Freshman calculus can do any serious damage.

If your only experience is only with run-of-the mill texts like Thomas, Spivak's Calculus will be a revelation. And if you've worked through Apostol's Calculus, either version of his Mathematical Analysis, or the first volume of Dieudonne, you'll appreciate how much of that material can be rigorously presented in an introductory course. I was taught from Apostol's two-volume Calculus in college, and it's good, but this is much better. There's certainly difficulty for the newcomer to the subject, but no grind, no rote, no mindless technical problems. I agree with the previous reviewer who said that this book ranks with the Feynman Lectures on Physics as one of the very greatest texts. And student who has completed and understood this book is probably ready for Dr.Spivak's gentle introduction to multivariate calculus through differential geometry, _Calculus on Manifolds_, and then his mammoth five volume text-cum-lecture-notes treating differential geometry in depth.