Thomas' Calculus Early Transcendentals (11th Edition) [Hardcover]

George B. Thomas (Author), Maurice D. Weir (Author), Joel Hass (Author), Frank R. Giordano (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 2005 | ISBN-10: 032119800X | ISBN-13: 978-0321198006 | Edition: 11

This is the most comprehensive revision of Thomas' Calculus in 25 years. The new edition of Thomas is a return to what Thomas has always been: the book with the best exercises. For the 11th edition, the authors have added exercises cut in the 10th edition, as well as exercises and examples from the classic 5th and 6th editions. The book's theme is that Calculus is about thinking; one cannot memorize it all. The exercises develop this theme as a pivot point between the lecture in class, and the understanding that comes with applying the ideas of Calculus. In addition, the table of contents has been refined, introducing transcendentals in the first seven chapters. Many of the examples have been trimmed of distractions and rewritten with a clear focus on the main ideas. The authors have also excised extraneous information in general and have made the technology much more transparent. The ambition of Thomas 11e is to teach the ideas of Calculus so that students will be able to apply them in new and novel ways, first in the exercises but ultimately in their careers. Every effort has been made to insure that all content in the new edition reinforces thinking and encourages deep understanding of the material.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1380 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 11 edition (February 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 032119800X
• ISBN-13: 978-0321198006
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #686,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst Calc Book EVER!, December 3, 2003

By 

C. Klausman (MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thomas' Calculus, Early Transcendentals (10th Edition) (Hardcover)

What a MESS!!! This is THE WORST textbook I have EVER seen on Calculus (or any other topic)! It should never be used to introduce students to the subject, because I guarantee all it will produce is frustration and confusion! There is little to no explanation on topics, some sections jump right into examples without any background for understanding the basis for the solutions, small little tidbits of important concepts are hidden away in text in obscure places, other less important stuff seems to take prominence in the text and ramble on and on, even the approach to exercises seems to be backward - material in the section and worked examples show a method of solution, but the first few sections of exercises ask you to solve the problem backward, and later on you find problems that would have been helpful in the beginning to get you familiarized with the concepts. The Solution Manual to the text isn't much help either. The only way I can accept this book as being worthy of print is to possibly think that it was written for Math instructors - people who already understand the subject and want to read something different - because THIS BOOK STINKS from a student's perspective. It is really, really, REALLY BAD!!! I like math, but I will never take another class if the textbook is by this author.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst calculus book I've ever encountered, December 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Thomas' Calculus, Early Transcendentals (10th Edition) (Hardcover)

This book is terrible. The lessons do not adequately cover the topics, and many times the problem sets include problems that are not explained anywhere else in the book. The examples in the lessons are poor, without much explanation (in particular, the physics and applications).

The layout is average - nothing different. However, it lacks reference materials (for example, there are no derivative or integral charts easily accessible in the front or back covers, but are hidden within the pages).

Do not use this book if you want a thorough source for calculus.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poorly Organized, June 10, 2005

By 

John Paramadilok "oki-john" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thomas' Calculus, Early Transcendentals (10th Edition) (Hardcover)

This book does a decent job with defining theories and concepts, which anyone can do; however, when trying to provide or explain examples and solutions to problems it leaves you very short of how it is done. The solutions manual is highly recommended for this book (ISBN 0-201-66211-6). Throughout the semester my professor used selected problems throughout the chapters to practice on but lectured and provided examples from his own problems. Without a lecture, this book is very hard to work with.