Calculus Made Easy

Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Book
Review: This is the very best math book I have ever read. As many other reviewers have pointed out, this book is an excellent source for UNDERSTANDING calculus!!! If you want to understand calculus, this book is an outstandingly excellent beginning. I studied calculus over 30 years ago as a math major. I currently teach mathematics and was absolutely stunned when I ran across this wonderful, beautful, lucid exposition of the differential and integral calculus. Dr. Thompson is surely ranked among the greatest math teachers of all time. Of course, Martin Gardner's revision simply increases the lucidity, joy and beauty of this mathematics classic. MUST reading for any literate and intelligent person, who wants to UNDERSTAND mathematics. There are tons of books that one can read in order to learn how to "do" mathematics, but Thompson's book is in a class by itself, when it comes to excellence in teaching mathematial understanding. I simply cannot find the words to describe the sheer joy and wonder I experienced while reading Calculus Made Easy!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Calc Made Easy makes calculus as easy as algebra
Review: This book is fantastic! If only I had it in college. I happened across Calc Made Easy in a bookstore on a business trip. In college, I was a math major and, at first, struggled through the concept of calculus and was intimidated by the terminology. I haven't done calculus in 25 years, but I read this whole book in one afternoon covering both limits, as well as differential and integral calculus. I cannot believe how easy this author makes these concepts.

Every 1st year calculus student should read this book. After grasping the concepts in Calc Made Easy, then you can concentrate on the algebraic manipulations you need to practice in order to solve the integrals and differencials in you're classroom textbooks. Reading this book you will look like a genius. But, more importantly you'll really appreciate the beauty of calculus and probably be motivated to do well in this class. Good luck and enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson (Author), Martin
Review: Mr. Thompson's book is very good for the people who wishes to study about the subject. The book explains an easy way before you will enter the door and explore calculus. This book does not contains many mathematical solved problems, it contains more wordy explainations and shows some important formulas and gaves a very clear understanding of their principles. Yes that is it...understanding the principles first is the best.

This book is best when paired with Teach Yourself Calculus by Hugh Neill? please check the spelling of the author since I little forget of it. Why? because when you are already in the room, Teach yourself provides examples that will let you execute the principles with clear explainations that will stimulate your brain during your journey. Okay Calculus made easy before entering the door and when you are already inside then you pair it with Teach Yourself. and then...

Additional book must be added of the two above. Why? Because Teach Yourself will gives you skills to begin solving problems. And the 3000 SOLVED PROBLEMS IN CALCULUS by Mendelson is the book to practice in addition to your teachers examples, if you have much budget then you can add more solving problem books like the 3000 solved problems, etc...I am sure that it will provide the best result....

Goodluck!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great book but its kind of hard to understand at times
Review: I'm going to be a junior in HS next year and take AP Calculus, but I got bored over the summer so I decided to pick up this book and learn some stuff to give me an edge next year. The first few chapters were very easy to understand and were written in plain simple language, but I got pretty hard when I started the chapter on finding derivatives of ln's and exponents. I spent like, a whole week on that one chapter before I finally understood. However, I hit a brick wall on the chapter about dodges, pitfalls, and triumphs (Integration techniques). This chapter is HARD HARD HARD!!!!!!! I'm still on this chapter; the first section of it is easy enough, but it got much harder on the second example of subsitution. Anyways, if you are going to buy this book, then be prepared to be stuck several times throughout the book! Oh and you need to have taken serveral years of math in order to get thru the book; I suggest taking a look at it AFTER you finish 2 years of algebra (Alg I and II), geometry, and Trig (The guy who said he read the book when he took geometry must be on crack or something because theres NO WAY a geometry student could understand this stuff (well, MAYBE the first few chapters, which are REALLY easy; it get MUCH harder from there), because geometry is BELOW Alg II and Trig, both of which are CRUCIAL to your understanding of calculus!) If you do manage to get thru the book, then it is VERY satisfying, and you'll learn a LOT, because calculus sort of ties up all your math up to this point; all that math that you have learned throughout all those years will finally come together!

Rating:
Summary: Calculus made Easy
Review: I am now finished with Calculus II and I still don't understand the content of thisbook. It is extremely complicated and poorly written. It makes it seem that Calculus is so easy, but it's just easier studying the old fasioned way, doing homework problems.I really don't recommend this book, at least for undergrads.

Rating:
Summary: Misinformation
Review: This book is terrible and cannot be recommended. Many of the things it says are simply wrong, like the opening discussions of 'orders of minuteness'. This book gives a lot of disinformation in attempts to simplify difficult topics, when all that is needed of these topics are clear unthreatening explanations. It does not deserve the popularity it has received for the last century. For a much better book to help a struggling student of introductory calculus, I can to no end highly recommend How to Ace Calculus: The Streetwise Guide by Colin Adams, et al.

Rating:
Summary: just take a class and get a normal book
Review: if there are shortcuts to learning calculus this isn't one of them.
Its much easier to just do it the normal way, take a class.

BTW, who on earth decided that the flaming leftist Noam Chomsky is a good person to quote on the back cover of a Calculus book?

Rating:
Summary: Introductory Text 1st Year - Freshman
Review: This is a basic introductory text normally for first year or freshman year at university or similar level. It presents a fairly comprehensive introduction.

It is used as a first year text in some schools/universities and if you have the extra money it is a nice reference book. I strongly recommend doing as many problems as possible so I also recommend the book: 3,000 Solved Problems in Calculus by Elliott Mendelson. You can buy that on Amazon.com also. If you are in first year and you have another text, probably do not buy this book, just buy the 3000 Mendelson problems and do some of those in parallel to the regular lectures and homework.

If you have failed calculus and need help to study for a summer exam or similar, get a professional tutor and or buy the 3000 Mendelson problem book. Do as many problems as you can. This will help you pass or improve your grades.

Jack in Toronto, former professor

Rating:
Summary: I always thought Calculus was a useless, dull topic...
Review: I always thought Calculus was a useless, dull topic, but after reading this book, I have found how useful it is, as well as how easy it can be. The authors approach to such a dull topic is outstanding. If you want to learn Calculus, without all the confusion that comes with the topic, this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: While this 'method' of explaining calculus has been superseeded by the 'limit theory' one, it is often more useful for those who are not going to major in maths (like engineers).