Calculus: Concepts and Contexts

Rating:
Summary: sparse on educational material
Review: All in all, this book can much better serve as a reference than actual teaching material.

Although big and expensive, the book misses a few key topics, which my Calculus teacher was than happy to pinpoint (e.g., lack of explanation of theorems such as the Extreme Value Theorem). On some topics it is extremely diffiult to teach oneself something, which you expect from such an expensive book. Other books do a much better job.

Throughout the book in each section, one of two things tends to be missing: either examples or the background information. The author either misses explaining concretely the meaning (and significance) of a theorem, or he "forgets" to put enough examples to suit anyone. For example, there are way too few example problems for partial fractions (esp. more difficult ones) . It was tedious even for me, someone who had already taken partial fractions.

So, overall, don't buy this book until it is required material. I don't see any other reason to.

Rating:
Summary: Is this the only Calculus book for college students??
Review: First off, I had no choice but to buy this book.

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? Is this the only book on Calculus? I like to think I am adequet in mathmatics, my number one gripe was I did not take advantage of Amazon before I shelled out the full 150 dollars for this book, I could have had this crad for $50. I have a precalulus book by Michael Sullivan (whom I wish was writing this book), his explanation are pretty good, especially when he refers you back to solving a problem after he has gone over the examples, without that book I would have never done well in precalculus class, I basically thought myself from his book.

Buying this book I thought James Stewart wrote a little like Michael, boy was I wrong, there are hardly any examples to refer back to when working out problems from the book, its just like "okay here are some numbers and theorems, now heres the answer!" The only reason I gave this a second star, was because of the CD-ROM that comes accomodated with this book giving hints on how to solve some selected problems. This book feels more like a text book (reading) than a typical math book, I understand that once you get to Calculus 1 one should be fluent in math, but still there's no reason for this. Maybe he wrote this book for student who like to skip class, because the only way to understand this book is with the help of a math professor.

Rating:
Summary: Calculus Concepts and Contexts 2ed
Review: I have to have this book for my calculus classes at the college I attend. This is my first semester in Calculus II (hopefully, I won't have to repeat it like I did Calc I) and this book is completly horrid for anyone who is shaky in math at all. The examples the book uses are next to useless (I mean, really, Calculus for Dummies is a better book than this is), the organization is atrocious (having two or more names for the SAME thing, even if it occurs later on in the book, is absurd), and the CDROM is useless. Seeing as how this is now my third semester with this book, I can fairly say (since there is no way I will change my mind) that this is the WORST math book I have ever had the misfortune to use and I have told that to all three of my professors. I have also, on the semester evaluations, failed this book with the lowest grade possible. Of course, I have also literally pitched it at the wall on numerous occasions and have spent many nights frustrated beyond belief to the point where, if I had had matches, I would have burned it to ash. I cannot begin to stress what a god awful book this is and I beseach all of the prospective professors to think long and hard before commiting your classes to suffer through calculus with this monstrosity.

To say that I hate this book does not do justice to my feelings of animosity towards it.

Rating:
Summary: Gets to the point of the subject.
Review: I'm currently in calc II and we use this book. It meshes very well with the environment of the class, which is small and with a very good math professor. Students who are more independent may prefer other books that have more examples and more explanations into the theory of calculus to this one. If you have a solid background in pre-calc, the first half of the book won't give you too many headaches. There are some sticky spots where you'll have to walk away and come back when you're in a better frame of mind, but with some patience nothing in it is impossible to grasp. As for the second half, a little more examples on trig substitution and integration by parts would probably be helpful to most. Students with other tough classes probably won't appreciate putting in the extra time it takes to make certain connections that are spelled out in other texts. Math enthusiasts would probably skip most of the readings anyway to get that satisfaction of figuring it out on their own(you know who you are!).

In a nutshell, the author is concise, gets straight to the point, and does a wonderful job of balancing pre-reform with reform calc. The graphical approach is very easy to follow, and to me, very helpful in learning the subject. Although I hated having to draw derivatives and antiderivatives from graphs, I have to admit that I learned a lot in the process. The exercises throughout the text are challenging but reasonable. Some sections would probably benefit from more plug-and-chug type exercises, though.

Rating:
Summary: Buy another book
Review: Out of all the Calculus books I've ever come across, I've never found one that's more amazingly difficult to understand and comprehend. If you're stuck with this book for a University class, please pick up another one to learn from. Having a deep math background and trying to "brush up" on Calculus, this book made me confused and didn't coincide with how I learned Calculus the first time.

The sad thing is that I gave this book 2 stars mainly for the picture of the Guggenheim Bilbao on front.

Rating:
Summary: I liked it.
Review: The book doesn't introduce calculus to high-school students all that well. In fact, anyone that hasn't had any previous experience with calculus may find it a little confusing to use, if they opened the book at the middle and started off from there. Anyone trying to use this book with poor prior experience on calculus should start reading it calmly from the very beggining. The examples are very good, and there are real world examples of the applications of this mathematics.

Don't be too hasty, calculus isn't an easy subject. And this book didn't make me understand the fundamentals of calculus that well, even though it makes an attempt. I does however provide a lot of do-able exercises, and fun computer based exercises, to help you learn how to use calculus. I would recomend this book to 1st year universitary math students, or people who serious want to learn calculus on their own. The book is easy to read, and not very hard to understand.

I would rate it 5 stars after another edition perhaps. Well worth the price.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: The other people that rated this book had failed, because I know them

Rating:
Summary: Junk!
Review: This book did cost 48 dollars(US) NEW last year. Now they jacked the price up!! What the hell. Is there a hell anyway? Some people say so. I have to eat now?

Rating:
Summary: Is this the only Calculus book for college students??
Review: This book was actually my textbook for 3 semesters in a row, and, throughout that time, I've been basically forced to live with this book next to me at almost all times. There are certainly some good points and bad, but I'll start with the good.

First off, the book does an excellent job, in my opinion, of giving every student of (almost) all ability levels a chance to grasp some deep calculus theories. For the math majors, that includes theoretical proofs (though most are just sketched in there!) and some good proof problems near the end of each section, and, for the non-math people, many applied problems (both "textbook" and "real-world" applied problems) combined with many routine drill-type problems to drive the concepts home. I also liked the numerous amounts of graphs and pictures drawn in the book, especially for 3-D graphing and surfaces, where it's not as easy to construct those by hand. His review of algebra and trigonometry is also very helpful, as my high school did not cover some of the topics in my precalc class before I took calculus I in college.

But, for the bad, my first gripe is with the organization. You can obviously tell that the book was written in two volumes as there is a clear shift from single-variable to multi-variable in the style of presentation (less examples in the multi-variable, no CD-ROM help available) and language (he shifts from a "let's be nice to the student" point of view in the beginning to skipping some essential steps in exercises and writing like a math professor as you go along!). Also, I felt that some of the sections were out of place where they were, like the l'Hospital's Rule section being right in-between a bunch of sections on physical applications of dervatives? While I can certainly see it as being an application of derivatives, I see it as much more of a theoretical topic than an application; in my opinion, it should come near the end of techniques of differentiation (chapter 3). Also, I felt that he should've included more examples with the solids of revolution sections, one of the hardest parts of calculus for me (and MANY other people in my class); it's one of the only sections in single-variable that considers 3-D problems; therefore, it should be taken slowly, in my opinion. One other gripe: the cost! That's a lot of money to be shelling out on a single book! Luckily, I knew I would use it for three semesters, so it was worth it. If you're not planning on taking multi-variable calculus, then only buy the single-variable volume to save yourself some money!

So, my final thought: If you're looking for a book with a lot of exercises for all levels, then this is definitely a good book. If you're looking for a book to essentially replace a teacher, then this book won't do that. A good teacher will most likely need to accompany this book to really get something out of it.

Rating:
Summary: Good problems, bad organization
Review: This book was actually my textbook for 3 semesters in a row, and, throughout that time, I've been basically forced to live with this book next to me at almost all times. There are certainly some good points and bad, but I'll start with the good.

First off, the book does an excellent job, in my opinion, of giving every student of (almost) all ability levels a chance to grasp some deep calculus theories. For the math majors, that includes theoretical proofs (though most are just sketched in there!) and some good proof problems near the end of each section, and, for the non-math people, many applied problems (both "textbook" and "real-world" applied problems) combined with many routine drill-type problems to drive the concepts home. I also liked the numerous amounts of graphs and pictures drawn in the book, especially for 3-D graphing and surfaces, where it's not as easy to construct those by hand. His review of algebra and trigonometry is also very helpful, as my high school did not cover some of the topics in my precalc class before I took calculus I in college.

But, for the bad, my first gripe is with the organization. You can obviously tell that the book was written in two volumes as there is a clear shift from single-variable to multi-variable in the style of presentation (less examples in the multi-variable, no CD-ROM help available) and language (he shifts from a "let's be nice to the student" point of view in the beginning to skipping some essential steps in exercises and writing like a math professor as you go along!). Also, I felt that some of the sections were out of place where they were, like the l'Hospital's Rule section being right in-between a bunch of sections on physical applications of dervatives? While I can certainly see it as being an application of derivatives, I see it as much more of a theoretical topic than an application; in my opinion, it should come near the end of techniques of differentiation (chapter 3). Also, I felt that he should've included more examples with the solids of revolution sections, one of the hardest parts of calculus for me (and MANY other people in my class); it's one of the only sections in single-variable that considers 3-D problems; therefore, it should be taken slowly, in my opinion. One other gripe: the cost! That's a lot of money to be shelling out on a single book! Luckily, I knew I would use it for three semesters, so it was worth it. If you're not planning on taking multi-variable calculus, then only buy the single-variable volume to save yourself some money!

So, my final thought: If you're looking for a book with a lot of exercises for all levels, then this is definitely a good book. If you're looking for a book to essentially replace a teacher, then this book won't do that. A good teacher will most likely need to accompany this book to really get something out of it.