Customer Reviews

Multivariable Calculus (6th Edition)

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

 

 

Edwards and Penney is the perfect example of a calculus book that does everything wrong. The text is heavy-handed, blustering out expositions that stretch for mathematical rigor but always fall short. I'm amazed at how well it manages to not convey the main ideas of a section at the same time it manages to not convey how one would derive the results more rigorously. The result is that students who read end up intimidated by the introduction to many sections rather than educated.

Beyond the pseudo-rigor of the introductions, the examples and problems are generally well thought-out and challenging. Unfortunately, many of the problems are challenging for the wrong reasons. Instructors who are not careful will frustrate students with questions that do not primarily serve to reinforce the ideas of a section.

And a final, small criticism: The notation used in this book for vector calculus is barbarous. There are so many better conventions that serve as reminders of what to do rather than mostly arbitrary letters.

I find this to be an excellent textbook. It might be lacking in terms of theoretical analysis and proof but for students who are looking to learn how to do the questions, it is an excellent source. The questions gradually increase in difficulty and it is easy to develop a certain level of ease with the subject of multivariable calculus, which is perhaps not always intuitive or obvious.

This is a horrible textbook, especially for an intro calculus class. Explanations are overly blustery and theoretical. The examples skip many steps and are unable to be applied to many of the problems. I had better luck googling the topics and learning from other, more concise explanations of the subject matter.

It's a textbook that teaches multivariable calculus like any other.
However, color would have been helpful for visual aid.

I used this book for my Multivariable Calculus course last semester and I truly loved the book. This book has plenty of examples in each chapter and it also has many problems at the end of each section. The sections are well explained and if you are dedicated, I am sure that you will find this book terrific. I am using a Edwards/Penney's book for my Differential Equations course this semester and the authors are fantastic! The only problem of this book is its cover: I am not a big fan of paperback; I would definitely prefer a hardcover version of this book.

I like this book. I used it in a course that I gave after years of my college years, yet it reminded me the subject without getting into details. It did not require any other book. The problems are also very nice.

The book was a xerox copy of the original book. The suggested price, given by the publisher, is about $74. I paid about $70
and received a xerox copy. I could have bought it directly from Pearson (the publisher), pay $74 and receive an original copy.

I wish I could find something good to say about this book, but I can't!