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Fri 9 Apr, 2004 03:07 pm
Can anyone suggest a good 'teach yourself' calculus book? I flunked out of Engineering Calculus in college 800 years ago and I have always wanted to correct that. I'm not terribly stupid (I was fairly lazy at the time) and I have found that I learn well through books. Any suggestions??
Sparky.....
I used Thomas in high school and Protter and Morely at college. Both were pretty good.
Since all Calculus books (or all Thermodynamics, or all Differential Equations, or all Kinetics ...) have the same title, many of us just use the name of the author instead of the name of the text. Any used book store near a college ought to have copies you could pick up.
I'm taking Calc BC AP in high school now, we use "Calculus with Analytic Geometry--Seventh Edition" by Larson Hostetler Edwards Heyd. It's very comprehensive and clear -- and comes with an interactive CD with 3D rotating graphs! lol. During the summer I was teaching myself, and compared many textbooks, and I find this one to be the best.
Good Calculus Book
Hi Sparky,
Two very good calculus books that emphasize core concepts rather than bore you with endless problems are:
Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson (Author), Martin Gardner (Author) (Hardcover - September 1998)
and
How to Ace Calculus : The Streetwise Guide by Colin Adams (Author), et al (Paperback)
I own both and I've used them to learn the basics of calculus before I took the course. However, they both lack in the small details and tricks that a calculus professor might point out.
mikeXstudios
Cool deal. Thanks to everyone - now I all I have to do is find them and soak it up.
Sparky.....
To mikexstudios,
I picked up Calculus Made Easy yesterday. So far, so good. It seemed as if the author was talking specifically about me in the preface. Great humor in there also.
Thanks again,
Sparky