Calculus

THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THE BEST CALCULUS TEXT-BOOKS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE UNITED STATES. And I have seen about 20 and used about 15 in my entire academic life, on two continents. Most American text-books are written "just to make math look fun". This is one that does approach the concepts of limits, continuity, differentiability with some rigor and logic. There is still a lot of place for improvement, especially om the applications of Calculus to ... Physics, some examples are somewhat clumsy for a good physicist or an engineer who knows physics. HOWEVER, FOR THE MATH MAJOR AND UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING MAJOR IT IS AN EXCELLENT TEXT-BOOK. The student who wrote a bad review complains about the lack of answers.... Well, he must be a student who failed the course, cause no good student would need to look at the answers. The problems are very well selected and many mimic the already-solved examples. Plus, there is a student solutions manual that is sold separately! Some problems should be made somewhat harder in a future edition. IT IS A GREAT BOOK FOR THE AVERAGE TO GOOD STUDENT. AND A SCARY BOOK FOR ALL THE STUDENTS WHO WOULD NORMALLY RECEIVE A GRADE OF F, D OR C ANYWHERE AROUND THE GLOBE. Some people are simply not meant to pass Calculus and endanger the world with their bad engineering.

Perhaps I can shed some light on why this book has received one star reviews. If you look at the date of the 1-star reviews you will notice they are all from quite some time ago. The reason for this is because they are actually reviewing the 2nd edition of this book instead of the 3rd. I was actually in Dr. Strauss's Calculus class (Fall 2000) when we were using the 2nd edition (he was not a co-author at this time). The general rule for the class was, if the answer you got did not match the answer in the back of the book or handbook, assume the text was wrong. I shudder to think of all the errors we found; however, the content of the book was still quite good. Dr. Strauss would catalog and submit all the errors his classes found, which is how he was invited to be a co-author. As a result, the 3rd edition is virtually error free in comparison, and I have no issues recommending this excellent text.

TO ANYONE WHAO HAS EVER FOUND MATH TO BE THE IMPOSSIBLE DISCIPLINE FIT FOR GENEUSES ALONE...CALCULUS IS A VERY EASY SUBJECT! - or perhaps it is so only to those who were fortunate enough to encounter this wonderful text that guides its readers in their transition from the mathematics of high school precalculus where the emphasis was placed on computation, to the college-level calculus where emphasis is placed on truly understanding the mathematics. In Pre-calc, it may have been enough to understand a theorem such as the Mean Value Theorem as an intuitively acceptable definition. In calculus, such a theorem holds value, only to a degree that a student could apply it appropreately in a proof of another theorem. Caculus is the last stepingstone of elementary mathematics. Despite the rigor of mathematics, it must be understood and embodied by all students that while mathematics is teoretical in the sense that its practitioners are interested in deriving the ultimate truths of the workings of the universe, there is an emperical and practical fascet to the subject that allies the theory. It is often the case with students taking the first tree (or four) semisters of calculus is that they are interested in the practical use of calculus towards their major . Whether you are a student who is a non-mathematics (non-physics or engeneering) major or otherwise, this text will undoubtedly be of great use. The distingulishing characteristic of the text is with the authour's abilities in elucidating the rigorous concepts of mathematics through clear, every-day language If you think you are mature enough, go with the Stewart text- I'm speaking to not many of you. Otherwise, Buy this book The Larson text will guide you through the rigor of calculus, and the Strauss text will elucidate the meanings and applications.

Many people say that this book is bad. On the other hand, I think is very challenging. The exercises are not as simple as in other calculus textbooks. The book explains everything well and provides you with many examples. I am a math major and this book has been really helpful.

This is an excellent book for self-studying. I do not understand why some users rate it one star.