Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Too Much, Yet Too Little, April 22, 2003
(review of 4th ed.) I have used this gargantuan book for three semesters now. This book is proof that quality does not equal quantity (1100+ pages). The book has lots of pictures, which I suppose is why it is so big. How do color photographs of nature scenes aid one's understanding of calculus? Answer: they don't...period.Yet for such a large book, coverage is quite sparse. The coverage starts with a slow introduction to functions, which I suppose is good for high-school students or students who lack the most basic mathematical background, but not for typical college students. Very little of the coverage has any depth, and too many proofs are 'outside the scope of this book'. By the time Stewart gets to vector calculus (covered in a single chapter), the coverage has become pure cookbook. For instance, divergence and curl are given as formulas, with no real discussion of their significance. Also, the book is organized very strangely. For instance, parametric equations and parametric surfaces are discussed in separate chapters. Even worse, the relationships between parametric curves, scalar fields and vector fields (the three types of multivariable functions) are never discussed. Perhaps it was just hard for me to see the relationships because they were on opposite sides of an 1100-page phonebook! Suggestion to Mr. Stewart: If you feel your book really needs to be so long winded, at least break the book into two or three volumes. Carrying my books to class shouldn't feel like boot camp!!! My friends think I'm carrying bricks in my backpack!!! And to the students: if you have a choice in the matter, consider either Apostol's "Calculus" or Spivak's "Calculus". If you are really adventurous, try Courant or maybe even Rudin. Also, for a pretty-good intro to vector calculus, check out Schey's "Div, Grad, Curl".
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48 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad at all, January 9, 2001
I have taught calculus courses with this and other books, and this one is actually pretty good.I disagree with those reviewers that say that this is a "proof-oriented" book. Yes, many of the important theorems in calculus (the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, the Mean Value Theorem) are proven, but the topological ones like the Extreme Value Theorem and Intermediate Value Theorem are not (perhaps that's too much to ask of a first-year course for non-majors, however). There is an overuse of color in the text, and the accursed box is drawn around way too many things, logically equating theorems, definitions, principles, and terminologies specific to the book like "The Closed Interval Test". What the book is very good at is providing lots of real-life examples and problems. In fact, these save the book. Each chapter teases some of the more interesting ones (how fast does a turkey cool after you take it out of the oven?) There are extended problems called "Applied Projects." I was particularly impressed with those from the related rates and optimization sections. Problems like these are what turned me on to math. Just a few more theoretical problems would complete the picture, however. Many students can calculate derivatives of functions, but few will come away with an idea of what functions and derivatives really are. In summary, this is very good book for non-math majors (e.g., engineers). It needs only be supplemented in class with the foundational material. For majors, however, I recommend Spivak's _Calculus_ book.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Three semesters in one book is a bit too much, October 5, 2005
I attend UNLV and when I took Calc I, II and III a few years ago, this is the book we used. Its coverage for 1st semester calc up to the beginning of integrals is decent. However, they needlessly complicate some of the more advanced integration techniques for 2nd semester calc. I found it difficult material to get through without falling asleep, and I love math.
Its biggest weakness is in vector calculus. The coverage is sparse and lacking at times, and overly detailed in others. For instance, surface and volume integration were very important to me as an engineering student, but there just weren't enough examples and no "weird" geometries at all. Then, their coverage of planes, which for me is not all that important, was tremendously detailed.
You probably don't have much of a choice if you're using this book for a course, but if you're planning on taking courses like electromagnetics, I'd recommend supplementing the vector calc portion with an E&M book.
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