Customer Reviews

Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is no where near a book which intends to teach calculus. It is rather like when your grandma' talks about her past. "Oh good times.."

Do not expect to be shown any rigorous proofs or see any logical strength in this book what so ever. What it will do, however, is just show you a few pictures and formulas. No detailed explanations, No sense of enthusiasm for the beauty of the mathematical content, No sense of style or logical path for you to follow. I do guarantee that not only you won't enjoy this book, you will hate it for its indifference.

If you have some better book (an example would be calculus by James Stewart) you will clearly see the illness in this book's logic. Topics are introduced as though they were by a tired old man who hates calculus. This is integral, this is what it looks like. Now example and here is the formula for you to use, plug in these numbers. It is rather disgusting what they have done to mathematics.

I do not recommend this weak book on such strong subject. Please do research for yourself and find a better book with more quality. Like I said above, better book (in my personal opinion) is the fifth edition of Calculus by James Stewart. I'm sure there are even better books than that, too. So don't waste your time with this one.

As an instructor at a small college, I am called on to teach nearly every course in the math and computer science departments. Therefore, my reasons for examining this book were to determine the suitability as a text for our calculus courses. In that regard, I found it suitable for a two-course sequence in beginning calculus.

Compared to nearly all other texts, it is quite short, on the order of 500 pages. Therefore, it does not contain enough material for a three-course sequence. The coverage is basic differentiation and integration with a final section that is an introduction to differential equations. Exercises with solutions to odd-numbered ones are included. The following is a list of positive features of this book:

*) Very little time is spent in the review of precalculus topics. In my opinion, using a lot of ink to review mathematical basics is a waste of ink. If the students don't have it by now, they shouldn't be in the course.

*) Very little time is spent in "using technology" sections. Some books try to do the Mathematica, Maple and Excel triad, showing how to solve problems using all three. While I recognize the value of technology, I also know that learning the concepts of calculus is challenging enough without throwing in the technology. If you know the calculus concepts, learning the technology is easy, but if you don't know the calculus, then the technology is of little value.

*) Proofs of selected theorems are included in an appendix. This allows instructors to pick and choose which proofs to cover and which to leave out. One criticism I have leveled against other calculus books is that proofs of the major concepts are not included. My approach is that while not all proofs should be examined, there are times when a proof should be presented and thoroughly dissected. Even though many of the calculus students will not go on in math, calculus is still a math course and math is based on proofs.

*) Several worked examples are included when every new concept is introduced.

At this point, I consider this the best calculus text available if all you are interested in is a book for a two-course sequence. However, if you would prefer one text for the standard three-course sequence, then you will have to look elsewhere.

This textbook is very useful. Colour images and detailed descriptions make concepts clear and easy to understand - especially when working on your own or to clarify something that was confusing during class. Probably the best textbook I have used in any discipline.

This text book is complete, and total waste of money.

Do not expect any kind of explanation of mathematical proofs, it will skip over most explanations, and lead to no end of being frustrated. There is little to no sense, or love of mathematical content. It is just a plain crappy book with grand leaps from section to section. Expect to have to read two sections in advance of the exercises to even attempt them. The layout, and progress of some sections is so discongruent that they will make little to no sense. I ended up getting a new Calculus book by James Stewart to make sense of this travesty of a book.

This book has one way, and one way only for problem solving. Which can cut down on ink, and the size but it just doesn't explain anything. Adding in "technological" avenues for problem solving can only help. It is far easier for a person to skip over something they understand. It is a whole other thing for a text book to skip steps.

Which makes it a poor course book for everyone.

Another reviewer said this very succinctly:

"I do not recommend this weak book on such strong subject. Please do research for yourself and find a better book with more quality. Like I said above, better book (in my personal opinion) is the fifth edition of Calculus by James Stewart. I'm sure there are even better books than that, too. So don't waste your time with this one." I wouldn't limit myself to an edition, or just early transcendentals by Stewart. The man does a great job writing a calculus text book.

I love this calculus book. I transfered colleges once and ended up using Larson's at one and Stewart's at the other. In addition, I had to TA a course with Stewart's. I have to say that I think Larson's is more for geared to the Engineers and Science than Stewart's. However, I still think Larson's book works so much better on all majors at introducing Calculus to students that are new to college and have little background in theory. This is not a theory book. However, if the student is in the math field he will have plenty of time in his analysis series to learn all the theory.

The one part that this book and Stewart's book lack is where theory is needed more, Vector Calculus. For this part, I always recommend (and am trying to get the department to make standard) is Vector Calculus by Marsden.

There's a real elegance in math that I think, ironically, isn't captured "in the trenches" of solving problems. The elegance is in abstracting mathematical ideas and understanding them from multiple angles. The power of mathematics is in rigorous proof, but it's really all procedural knowledge without the complete picture that this approach paints, which instills abstract, associative thinking patterns that develop what brains do best.

This book is very attractive and well-presented. The graphs are clear, even 3D shapes and surfaces, and they never hesitate to throw in some diagrams to help explain or justify a claim graphically. It sounds like an insignificant distinction, but some of the other calc books are a mess and are harder to learn from, while this one is a pleasure just to read through. I mean really, you will be wowed by how well this book is organized and presented, and you can grasp concepts at a glance rather than muddling through equations. Each section has a long opener that introduces concepts very generally so you can keep in mind what you're trying to do as you learn them specifically.

This book takes a very wordy, prose approach to teaching concepts. Stewart and other books tend you define a concept just by the math behind it: the variables, the operations, and the equations. Apparently that's a very complete, satisfying definition for mathematicians, but for the engineers that this book is designed for, it's easier to learn by constructing equations from ideas than by deconstructing equations to figure out what the heck they're really doing.

I received my book in the exact amount of time I was supposed to get it in. The book was in nearly perfect condition, and I was really happy overall.

The book was Dirt cheap, but other than that, you have to remember that it's full of calculus: the most evil of all maths. I'd have to say that unless you're really mathematically minded, you may not fully understand topics in the book just by trying to read/learn them. Some concepts that are complicated are broken down into other complicated terms that I found weren't simple enough for someone to read them and have his/her memory refreshed from class. If my instructor teaches me something, and i go to study, and the book is difficult to decipher, then it leaves my recollection of my lecture fuzzy.

I used this text for calculus (I, II, III) during my engineering classes. The chapter problems are shown with simple solutions and plenty of clear details.

I still have it on my shelf as a reference and use it all the time. I did get really tired of carting this thing around, though. It was like carrying Mini Me around in my backpack all day long...heavy with an attitude.

Fast shipping and book was as described. Used the book for Multivariable calculus. As a visual learner it had detailed pictures to better understand what area we were computing for triple integrals and such. Does a good job with the examples and homework problems.