Customer Reviews

Thomas' Calculus Early Transcendentals (11th Edition)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

If you buy the book alone without the solutions manuals and you are taking calculus 1 2 or 3 you will have the hardest time in your life.Its ridicoulus how the examples in the book are general and when the problems arrive in the section they are mostly special cases where you have do to something absolutly different. For a student this book is a nightmare, maybe for somebody that has taken the class before or knowledgeble this book might be useful to practice hard problems. In my opinion, books like these should not be published for the purposes of teaching their content in universities.

I used this book for my single-variable integral calculus course and I must say it did an excellent job of teaching what the instructor couldn't. The problem sets are good, and if the solutions manual wasn't riddled with errors, the combination would be outstanding.

Most of the negative reviews seem to be written by frustrated students new to calculus... so keep that in mind!!! I used this book for over 4 years during my undergrad experience in trying to get a physics degree. I was NO math or science whiz, but I grew to love calculus with this book.

Moving on....

From calc 1 to calc 3, I was lucky to have the same text for all of my courses. Acquiring the two Student Solution manuals (I and II) is HIGHLY recommended. Answers to odd problems are in the back, and more detailed solutions to those odd problems are in the solution manual. Each chapter begins with an overarching description of the concepts to be covered, in plain english. There are plenty of explained examples, leading to important theorems and formulas which are then boxed and collected in tables. Everything is smooth and easy to follow, and there are pictures and tips along the way to help. The practice problems at the end of each section follow the same examples as presented in the section, so they are pretty much divided conveniently into the same format as the presentation of the material in the section. Now, some of the reviewers claim that there are 'curve-ball' type problems in a section; ie. exceptions to the examples covered in that section that leave you wondering what you're supposed to do... but I personally never experienced this. They likely missed something in previous sections or chapters that is a prerequisite for said problem. At least, that definitely happened to me. Bottom line is that if you follow this textbook section by section, chapter by chapter, you will absorb its style of clean organization and, rest assured, there are no curve-balls.

As with most science/math textbooks I've used, I do wish that more answers were included in the back. Each section of each chapter has a large batch of open-ended questions, intended to be written out as a verbal verification that you understand concepts, and those unfortunately don't have answers. Perhaps the authors may have intended them not to, in order to make you work harder to verbalize and therefore recapitulate your understanding.

I can't understand how there are so many bad reviews!! Maybe I loved it because I was stuck with it for all three classes. But finishing an entire 1300 page text book feels good.... lots of memories! I'll never get rid of this book!

This text is great for learning calculus if you've not been exposed to it before. Plus it supplies copious exercises that will enable you to master the techniques. The exercises help you to go in depth; that is, to see beyond the surface and to understand the underlying logic of the processes. And the sections are a quicker read than I had expected, so I give credit to the writer for being able to provide such clarity and simplicity without having long, drawn-out or boring sections.

The book came within a week and the product was just as it was described.

Helpful if you plan to take calculus levels one and two. It has a lot of material.

I discuss this book within my review of James Stewart's Calculus: Early Transcendentals where I compare Stewart's approach and the approach of this edition of Thomas' Calculus in their discussions of limits and continuity. I rate Stewart's at 1 star. I think this book, this edition, is a clear, well organized, and even paced introduction to calculus. I am very curious about the latest edition, Thomas' Calculus Early Transcendentals (12th Edition).