Precalculus, Preliminary Edition: A Prelude to Calculus [Paperback]

Sheldon Axler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471614432 | ISBN-13: 978-0471614432 | Publication Date: November 16, 2007 | Edition: 1

For anyone who needs to learn calculus, the best place to start is by gaining a solid foundation in precalculus concepts. This new book provides that foundation. It includes only the topics that they’ll need to succeed in calculus. Axler explores the necessary topics in greater detail. Readers will benefit from the straightforward definitions and examples of complex concepts. Step-by-step solutions for odd-numbered exercises are also included so they can model their own applications of what they’ve learned. In addition, chapter openers and end-of-chapter summaries highlight the material to be learned. Any reader who needs to learn precalculus will benefit from this book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471614432
• ISBN-13: 978-0471614432
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to give this six stars...., April 13, 2009

By 

statW "sfbasksg" (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus (Paperback)

After working through the author's linear algebra done right book I came across this precalculus book. There is no better book. It has complete - and I mean complete - worked out solutions for all the odd problems. I know many students who have suffered through incredibly badly written books dealing with this subject and most, if not all, of them are. This book is a rigorous introduction to calculus - by this I mean that this book develops all ideas logically that a high school student can understand without an instructor - yes, without an instructor. All the usual topics of precalculus are covered in this book - only much better. Buy this for yourself, for your high schooler child and if you are a math teacher in a high school, at the very least, pilot this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Book to prepare for calculus, June 27, 2011

By 

L. Figueroa "nyguerrillagirl" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus (Hardcover)

This is the perfect book to prepare for Calculus. It is NOT one of those 1000-page tombs with every topic under the sun and tons of exercises. This author clearly knows the material and moreover presents it in a way that one can learn on one's own. There was really attention to detail on topics that are pertinent and important to understand and master in order to move on to the next level. I truly enjoyed the fact that the material in pervious chapters (e.g. functions and their inverse) came up again to understand and master other topics (e.g. logarithms). The best thing There was a mix of example exercises with thoughtful problem-type exercises. I must admit to spending several days mulling over thought problems that involved "proving or showing" that something was true. It made me feel more like Sherlock Holmes and less like some robot doing tons of problems to prove I understood something.
For the readers that provided a low review (which I went over before writing my own) I must say it probably derives from being unprepared for this level of mathematics. I know from friends who don't really read the book for understanding they just find the closest example in the text when they are doing the exercises and move on. This book really starts to move you in the direction where you should read the text slowly and carefully, do some exercises and sit back and enjoy the "thought" problems - this is where the action is and you truly start to understand why mathematicians exist. I am not planning on being a mathematician and consider myself average but I do enjoy solving problems and this author has written a great math book - maybe I would have chosen math as a major if earlier books were so thoughtful in presentation, discussion and exercises.

This book is short, sweet, and to the point. You will not be disappointed.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Jargon Heavy and Technical, March 30, 2010

By 

Comprehensive Combustion - See all my reviews

This review is from: Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus 1st Edition Binder Ready Version (Paperback)

The explanations in this book are very technical, and it throws a lot of concepts at you full speed. I know what a function is from other books and other math classes I've taken, but here is their definition, "A function associates every number in some set of real numbers, called the domain of the function, with another real number." If that sentence didn't make your thoughts wander as you read that, then maybe this book is for you, but if you had to read it a few times to process it like I did, then you're better off learning pre-calculus from another book unless this is the required text for you class. Even though the theory isn't explained in an engaging way, there are many examples, and the solutions are worked out thoroughly. But then again, whats the point of merely following and memorizing formulas if you don't fully understand what you're doing. I don't believe math has to be boring, but this book makes it very much so.