Calculus: Concepts and Applications - Student Edition (includes online access)

The title says it all. This book is designed to be a "textbook" for the AP Calculus AB/BC exams. I think in that respect it succeeds immensely! My teacher chose this text for our AP Calculus AB class and found it a delight to work with. The concepts were explained clearly, there were enough example problems to get the point across. I did find an occasional "skipped" step which would basically force me to try to fill in the gap, but hey, that helps get the calculus juices flowing, right? The problems in the book -- which are the cornerstone of any textbook -- are really well designed for what an AP Calculus student should be able to do. There are several kinds of problems. The "quick reviews" are useful for beginning of class warmups (you know, 10 minutes to drill the basics) and the actual problems can vary from easy to challenging (but all within the scope of AP difficulty). So if you're an AP Calc teacher looking for a class text or a student who wants to self study calculus specifically for the AP exam, then this is, by all means, the text to use. I suggest pairing this with Princeton Review's AP Calculus prep book if you want a 5.

This was the main textbook used for my Calculus AB class. Its explanations are clear, though sometimes difficult steps in algebraic manipulation are skipped (which may initially confuse but can be figured out after some additional work). The text progresses within each chapter, relying initially on an exploratory section where concepts are not directly stated but figured out through a little guidance with the questions. This first section introduces the readers to the concept being studied in each respective chapter. Then, the information is given in ensuing sections of the chapter. The best part of this text is the "green boxes" which sum up concepts learned, definitions, formulas, etc., which make reviewing for a final exam a much simpler task. It has a simple presentation with few colors, sticking mainly to a light olive green and gray for the pictures and other illustrations. This textbook is a very good tool for calculus students, relying on varied methods of learning and some self-discovery of the subject matter.

This is a great book, I used it in my Pre-Cal and BC Cal class. It's very easy to understand, and easy to get into Calculus class!

This book made a difficult subject (calculus) easy to understand through its effective use of diagrams, examples, and word problems. I would not have been able to survive Calculus BC AP without it.