Calculus

I was truly impressed by the quality of this book, and i use it instead of the standard book my university uses to teach the course (the book is by james stewart). Excellent examples, really good physics applications, Good images (graphs/planes/spheres/etc), a really good book, it helped lower my learning curve, or maybe that is because the book my university assigns is just horrible.

I have been a fan of Roland Larson's math textbooks, as they have always been very clear and the practice problems always make sense. I was recently stuck in some calculus courses which used the calculus textbook by James Stewart, and that book is a nightmare! Fortunately, my multivarible calc prof prefers Larson's book, which is what we use in class. Very good book; I recommend it much over Stewart's.

One of the best parts of this text book is the beautiful array of supplementary figures and graphs. Many worked out examples provide the reader with a thorough knowlege of the concepts before diving deeper into theory and application. This text book starts at chapter 11 (the reader should have had at most 2 semesters of calculus) Chapter 11 on vectors and geometry of space offer a solid foundation for understanding basic vector functions and operations (dot and cross product, projection and components, etc.), 3-D geometrical shapes (paraboloid, hyperboloids of 1 or 2 sheets, etc.), as well as applications for both, also cylindrical and spherical coordinates.Chapter 12 on vector-valued functions initiates the idea of rate, velocity, and acceleration vectors and their relationship including vector differentiation, tangent and normal vectors, and arc length and curvature.Chapter 13 does a wonderful job introducing functions of several variables, using limits, differentials, partial differentiation rules, gradients, max/minimization, and applications.Chapter 14 on multiple integration is much easier to understand using this text than others. Lots of physics applications using area, volume, center of mass, moment of inertia, and change of variables.Chapter 15 returns to vectors with topics such as curl (with physical interpretation), divergence, line and surface integrals, Green's thm, Stoke's thm, flux, and parametric surfaces.Chapter 16 concludes the text by introducing differential equations. Basic concepts, separation of variables, exactness, homogenous equations, and power series solutions offer both as a learning tool and as somewhat of a refresher course. Overall, the book is very well-written, from the introduction which illustrates the many advantages of calculus over algebra, the insight into careers using mathematics, to the appendices with proofs of theorems, basic differentian rules and answers to odd-numbered exercises (even exercises for the first 10 chapters), this book is a work of art for any math and/or science student.

The publishers of this book emphasize the quality of the computer generated graphics accompanying the examples; I couldn't agree more. All concepts taught (which are quite clear by themselves) are beautifully illustrated by detailed pictures. I used this book in high school and loved it- so much so that I was inclined to take it to college for further reference. If you are looking for a great introductory calculus book, this is the one.