Thomas' Calculus, 11th Edition (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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, going back to the classic 5th and 6th editions for additional exercises and examples. 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 to match the standard syllabus. 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.

From the Back Cover

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1380 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 11th edition (October 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321185587
• ISBN-13: 978-0321185587
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,582 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Stewart's book... In fact, the best!, March 17, 2004

By	"idreamofjeani" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

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

I've used both Stewart's Calculus and Thomas'. Interestingly, Thomas has been writing calculus books for a LONG time and i've picked up several editions in the used book stores, because from the first time i bought a Thomas calc book back in Jr. High for my own self interest, i was a fan of his style.

His style is that of the old-school American text book authors who wrote in a clear, concise manner of English, using tangible and visual examples. Those old writers still thought of much of the material as novel, and were appealing to a more agrarian society of students.. especially the young and booming field of engineers. This is lacking in today's texts. The only drawback is that some old texts are much too impersonal and use the passive voice for everything, which can make them very difficult to read at times.

Thomas' recent editions (at least - i can not recall for the 60's era editions) are not only formally clear, but easy to understand and read. Here are the ways in which Thomas' book beats Stewart's book:
1) His explanations are accompanied by better graphics. Thomas uses more graphics to show each example and derivation. He uses MULTIPLE frames of graphics for one example, instead of just a single graphic. This makes following his train of thought much easier.. it's almost like watching a video.
2) His writing style is more complete. He leaves out fewer ideas than Stewart. Sometimes Stewart, like most authors, forgets to mention what exactly he is thinking and the reader is left trying to figure out his train of thought.
3) Thomas guides the reader through more (graphical) derivation of concepts. Sometimes, you will find derivations which Stewart relegates to problems for the reader (don't you hate that!?), are actually shown visually by Thomas!

Thomas' book is in fact probably the best calculus textbook around. I've looked at many many of them, and fraknly, none of them are this complete and well developed... The funny thing is, Thomas' book was one of the best decades ago. It has only gotten more exhaustive and more mature!

You should have this book in your reference library at least. You are more likely to find illustrative discussion on any particular introductory calculus subject in this book than you are in other books.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good text for self-study, April 10, 2003

By	Tom (Birkerød, Denmark) - See all my reviews

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

I've used this text to teach myself calculus, basically reading the text cover-to-cover and doing about half the exercises. I've found it fairly easy going - the text is well written and contains enough worked examples that you can do most exercises without too much trouble. I would advise against spending money on the Student's Solution Manuals (Sharf/Weir) though - these do not contain enough detail to be of much help with the exercises that you get stuck with.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars More Problems?, April 25, 2000

By	Charles (Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Student's Study Guide Part 1 (Paperback)

This is not a good book. However, I must admit that it really isn't that bad. The examples are clear, and the solutions are given, with decent explanations.

The bad thing about Calculus with this Study Guide isn't that it's poorly written, the bad thing is that it's practically useless. The problems are of the same type as those found in Calculus with Analytic Geometry, and they are explained in the same dry way. In other words, the Calculus with Analytic Geometry Study Guide doesn't really help to clear up any confusion, nor does it serve as a "guide" of some sort--it's simply more textbook problems!

If you are having trouble with Calculus with Analytic Geometry, the Study Guide will do you no good. There is a book, The Calculus with Analytic Geometry Student Solutions Manual that explains problems from the textbook. Buy the solutions manual.