Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Calculus

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

 

 

Hundreds of Calculus texts claim to teach this rich field of mathematics easily or well. Most texts send students running out of class. As an educator, my goal is to explain all of the fundamental techniques of Calculus, with their proofs, in a manner and pace that a tenth grade inner-city student can comprehend. I believe this is quite feasible using this book as a comprehensive guide if the teacher loves math, uses the text, and loves the students. The self-tests are cogent and progress gradually in complexity - keeping pace with the growing power of the chapters. This is the first book I reach for when a Geometry or Algebra student asks me "Do you think I could ever take Calculus?" You bet! Hugh Neill's masterful "Teach Yourself Calculus". I recommend it without reservation. N. Montero, MD

I was looking for a little book of calculus I could carry around with me, my textbook from school is just too big. I knew that such a book wouldn't cover every single topic in calculus, but if it covered the major stuff and had good presentation, I would be pleased, since the rest could be filled in using online resources, etc.
I saw this book at the bookstore, and thought it looked pretty decent, it was only $13, so I bought it. I'm glad I did, the introduction to e and natural logarithms is the best I've seen. The author is able to explain concepts in the most clear and concise manner, such as is rarely seen.
This book is the best little book of calculus I've seen.

Easy explanations and plenty of subject area to cover the first and second courses in Calculus.

I have not yet finished the book; I do think it is clearly written.

I would have awarded four stars but due to some incorrect answers that cause one to waste time trying to find where the reader (me) made a mistake, a penality of one star is assessed.

There is nothing more frustrating.

You are much better off buying an old, cheap textbook from the 80s or something. This book is *okay* (and merely *okay*) when covering derivatives but when it gets to integrals it becomes poor and when it gets to applications of integrals (i.e. volume, area, etc.) it completely goes off the rails. Typos become rampant, explanations of new topics are made so brief as to be worthless and I had to consult other texts in order to learn what I needed to finish the problem sets. There are no word problems except at the very last chapter (where I became so frustrated I gave up entirely and switched to my textbook), so all of the problems are mere exercises in pure math with virtually none of the applications that make you really learn calculus.

At best, this is a supplement to a real calculus text or course, or something to help bring you up to speed if you had already studied these topics earlier, but even as a supplement there are far better alternatives available.