Customer Reviews

Master AP Calculus AB, 3rd ed (Arco Master the AP Calculus AB & BC Test)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book to study for the AP Calculus AB exam and possibly teach myself some of the BC topics. I think the book overall does a good job and is well intended, but it has various problems. First of all, it is strewn with errors. I am referring to the 3rd edition when I write about these. Some examples are:

- on page 22, there is a graph labelled as a ln graph (y=lnx), but it actually shows a square root graph (y=x^(1/2)0.

- on page 55 in Exmaple 17 it says coordinates are A (3, pi/2), B (-3pi/4,1), C (5pi/6, -2), flipping all the x- and y- coordinates with each other. (It should be A (pi/2, 3), B (1, -3pi/4) and C (-2, 5pi/6).

- on page 63 it says "AB [with arrow over it to indicate vecctor] = 7 i [i in bold] + 3j [j in bold] = 7 i [i in bold] + 3j [j in bold]". It should say "AB [with arrow over it to indicate vecctor] = <7,3> = 7 i [i in bold] + 3j [j in bold]".

- on page 83, it says "lim x -> -2 r(x) = lim x -> -2 (1/ (x-2)) = 1/ (-2 - 20) = -1/4". It should say "lim x -> -2 r(x) = lim x -> -2 (1/ (x-2)) = 1/ (-2 - 2) = -1/4"

- on page 137 we are trying to fine h'(e), but first you of course find the general formula for h'(x) and then plug in e. But whoever typed it must have thought they were all supposed to say "h'(x)". First, at the top of the page it reads "Example 14: Find h'(x) if h(x) = [equation]", and it should read "Example 14: Find h'(x) if h(x) = [equation]" since the problem ends up solving for h'(e). Then a few lines down it reads "Now find h'(e), and remember that lne=1. That will remove some of the grime. h'(x) = arc cot e [etc, rest of equation with es in it]". Again. clearly that is an equation for h'(e), not for h'(x).

- on the bottom of page 173 on example 9 of chapter 5, the tangent line equation should read "...=17.696(x-(pi/4)), but it makes some error where pi/4 is (I whited out the original and wrote that over it so I don't remember what the error originally was.)

- On page 237 on the Chapter 6 practice problem #8 the radius should be 36 feet, not whatever was written in.

And after chapter 6 it gets suddenly better. Maybe they hired a different typre for the rest of the book or something. Or maybe I just never got as far as the rest of the book/ =P

Anyway, the long and the short of all that is that if you are going to be confused by lots of typos. maybe this book isn't for you. For me, I had enough familiarity with the topics to begin with that I figured out what they meant (though it did waste a bit of my time.) However, if you don't have a good background prior to this book, things like this might confuse you (although you do have an enumeration of all the errors (well, through chapter 6 at least) right here, assuming this still coordinates with the edition of the book they're selling now. (Or maybe, of course, they've corrected these errors by now!))

On the other hand, I think it provides pretty good review in general. In the start in Chapter 2 which is Calculus Prerequiaiates (relations, functions, trig) it gives lists of all the things to memorize, in only a few places, so you have them all there to study. In addition, there is aformula page in the start of the book with the basic formulas, besides these ones which are like the pre-calc ones (trig identities, sum and diff formulas, etc).

Also, the writer attempts to write with humor and flair, to avoid the typical math-book type book. I'm not sure if this is a plus or a minus, though. His jokes are really lame, but I suppose they still do lighten up the math of it.

There are hands-on activities that attempt to get the student to figure out for themselve (sorry, him or herself) math rules by going through steps of mini-questions and then it asks you what is the relation between such-and-such or the general formula for such-and-such. I think some of these are pretty good.

And in general I think things are explained well.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good book, but there are a ton of errors. I bought it based upon the previous reviews that said it was THE calc book to buy to review for the AP exams. (BTW, I took calc, AB; I don't know how this book is for BC, though I think it would be ok, but I have heard BC is a ton harder, so I don't know. It has each section separate and the ones that are for BC only are labelled "BC Only", that's how it organizes that.) If it is true that this book is really so much better than all the otherrs, I'd say buy it in spite of the typos unless you think that would really throw you off. However, I haven't heard anything bad about the other books from people I know.... I've heard that Barron's sucks in general and Princeton Review is good, but I have no idea really. I can't imagine anything being so much better about this book than others, unless the others really suck, but I don't know. Anyway, if this book is really better I'd say go for it but otherwise it has lots of annoying errors. I give it a 3 out of 5 assuming it really is a better book in general, a 2 out of 5 if not.

Information on the book:

It has 11 chapters in 2 parts, the first being pre-calc and differentiation, the second being integration. the third part of the book is practice exams, one in AB and one in BC. I honestly never got that far and haven't looked at the practice exams; I just practiced with old exams from the collegeboard website.

Part 1
- Ch. 1: Intro to the AP Calc test, etc
- Ch 2: "Calculus Prerequiaiates" - functions, trig stuff
- Ch 3: "Limits and Continuity"
- Ch 4: "Differnetiation"
- Ch 5: "Advanced Topics in Differentiation"
- Ch 6: "Applications of the Derivative"
- Ch 7: "Integration"
- Ch 8: "Advanced Methods of Integration" (u substitution, and then mostly BC stuff, like integration by parts, improper fractions, uv substitution)
- Ch 9: "Applications of Differentiation"
- Ch 10: "Differential Equations"
- Ch 11: "Sequences and Series (BC Topic only)"

This book is now available under a different title, "Peterson's AP Calculus AB and BC." The content is almost exactly the same--I think the "Master" series from ARCO was discontinued.

This is the best book out there for the AP calc test. You can probably score a 5 without taking the prep class. I have missed lessons in my ap calc ab class before (thanks to games on my ti-89 ;-) and with minimal effort and a lil time, the book basically teaches you how to do basic things like finding limits and integrals. It also expalins things in a concise manner and the author has a good sense of humor. A must for calculus and the tests are pretty good. The problems in each section with ans and explanations come in handy.

This book is truly amazing! You can teach yourself Calculus AB & Calculus BC with this book alone and get a 5 on the AP Exam..all without a teacher! Every topic on the ap exam is covered in depth in this book by an excellent teacher, and the sample ap exams are very similar to the ap exam. This book helped me get a 5! Definitely buy it!

I wasn't the best at Calc BC in my class, but I got this book and studied like crazy. I read this entire book from cover to cover and took notes. However, I didn't do any of the tests in the back because my teacher had his own for me to do. I tried most of the problems and such. I earned a 5 on the BC test for all my efforts though I was close to a C+ average in the class.

The author provides some challanging and some easy problems. Best of all, this guy has a sense of humor which makes dry math seem much better. This is the best book to own.

Keep in mind I did have a good teacher, this book just gave me another way of looking at everything. In most cases this book is what got me to see how to do things. It also taught me some things my teacher didn't that saved me time and got me the right answer. Taken alongside what you learn in class, this is sure to help anyone (though it still didn't get series straight for me, but it did help me feel comfortable with series problems).

This book does have a few inaccuracies, but you're sure to spot them. Or you could just read the review posted by the other guy on this site for a list of them all and corrections.

I encourage you to get this book if you are looking for the best guide (though slightly out of date).

Me and Calculus were going through some rough times. When we first went out together, I was intimidated because she was such a complex girl. I tried getting tips and advice from my nerdy friends but even they were unable to comprehend her. Finally I sat and talked with her about our relationship and where it was heading. As my heart approached to negative infinity, her love rose to positive infinity. I was ready to cut her off from my class schedule but than I got this book and since than, me and Calculus have been so happy together. I know how to find her derivatives without having unhooking her equation. I trained her with the chain rule, and now she is my pet. She no longer has power over me. I studied this book,and now she listens to me!! Point is, if you want to make Calculus your b*tch, read up on this manual.

I have been teaching AP Calculus for more years than I am willing to admit. Whenever I have a student who says, "I need more practice problems" or "I'm just not getting this" or "Is there ANYthing you can do to help me?" I ALWAYS recommend this book.

Some of my students just use it at the end of the year to review, but others use it during the year as a supplemental text.

Yes, even the best of teachers sometimes can't deliver the message in a way that EVERY student understands. That's why Mike Kelley's book is so helpful.

Buy it. Your brain will thank you.

This is very simply the best AP calc review book ever written. It is simple and fun to read--yes I said FUN. There are plenty of examples for each topic and each topic is exlained in a way where it can be actually understood. Ive seen the other books out there for this subject and they are nothing compared to this one.

This book helped me greatly in understanding AP Calculus BC in 12th grade. For example, once my calculus teacher taught a concept which I completely failed to understand. I read the corresponding section in this book the night before the quiz and scored a high A--the highest in the class.

I read this book a month before the actual exam, and i made a five in calc BC and AB. However, you do need to do ur hwk and understand the concepts in class. If you are shaking in few chapters, then this book will definitely help you master the important skills. GET THIS BOOK FOR SURE!!