Calculus with Analytic Geometry (Paperback)

by George F. Simmons (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This work takes an intuitive approach to calculus and focuses on the application of methods to real-world problems. Topics new to this edition include first-order nonlinear differential equations, elementary probability and hyperbolic functions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 880 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (ISE Editions); 2nd edition (November 1, 1995)
• ISBN-10: 0071147160
• ISBN-13: 978-0071147163
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,401,122 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best introductory calculus textbook. Period., May 22, 2000

By	Steven A Leduc (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Calculus With Analytic Geometry (Hardcover)

I own no fewer than 20 different Calculus books, and no introductory Calculus textbook can compare in clarity to Simmons' book. The impeccable writing style guides the reader through the world of calculus. Simmons provides motivation, and the gentle (but nevertheless appropriately rigorous) story is like water flowing downhill: natural and seemingly effortless. He also does not linger over pesky unimportant details, but gets to the heart of the matter quickly. The book places rigorous proofs of some of the most important theorems in an appendix (where they should be for an introductory course), illuminating applications of some of the topics in the book, and fascinating brief bios of some of the world's greatest mathematicians, in addition to many many excellent problems (from elementary to challenging). For anyone wanting to learn calculus from scratch, I can't think of a better book.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My guide through calculus, April 15, 2003

By	Daniel V. Gomes "Daniel V. Gomes" (Jaguariuna-SP Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Calculus With Analytic Geometry (Hardcover)

When I was a freshman in College, a friend of mine showed a book. As I was taking Calculus I simply took it at hand and started to read it. I was surprised because the explanation was
so clear and the text was so well written and in many ways very artistic. I bought it and this book helped me very much. It covers the genesis of calculus, the very basics of limits and function, introduces differential equations, it is very precise on describing differential and integral calculus, it gives you a solid knowledge of Analic Geometry, it is a very good guide to series and my favorite area is more than 1 dimension functions.
Its exercises vary from those which teach you the way of thinking through those very hard ones that simply grant that you got it all.
One of the best comments I ever read in a book for Enginneers was one that the author made about solving non linear equations.
I can't remember literally but it was something like "you should try to solve this non-linear equation using your intelligence, yet sometimes you won't really find a solution". That comment for a Math book is such a evolution.
Apart from the Math issues, the author has a deep knowledge
of Phylosophy of Science and its story. Simply one of my 3 favorite technical/ science books ever.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Oasis, April 18, 2007

By	Christopher Osburn (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Calculus With Analytic Geometry (Hardcover)

I have a big, dirty secret: I needed three tries to get through calculus. Needless to say, I went through (or at least started) three calculus books. The third of these was Simmons' first edition of the current volume. Dr. Simmons takes a historical approach to the material, following discovery after discovery. While today we define the derivative in terms of the limit, this definition (and the delta-epsilon proof machinery beneath the limit concept) came after the geometric notion of the tangent of a curve. I found it enormously helpful to know where I was going before I started. And why not? The great mathematicians that built the rigorous foundations beneath the calculus all knew where they had to end up.

One other topic that Dr. Simmons enjoys is arithmetic series. This topic unfolded like a flower during its presentation. As I moved into computer science, this provided valuable background to some of the iterative methods of calculation I was exposed to.

I might have a different perspective, though; George Simmons was my Calc 2 prof :-)