<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: (This review refers to the eighth edition)This is an excellent textbook for an ordinary 3 semester calculus sequence. Important theorems are not used without proof, the illustrations are simple and tasteful (I hate when math textbooks contain color photographs), and the content is well-written. There's a good balance between theory and applications. This textbook does tend to be more challenging than many undergraduate texts, and may not be appropriate for high school or junior college courses. The least upper bound material would be better placed earlier, before studying integrals. The authors might have expanded the theory involving implicit differentiation and differentials. This is an introductory text, however, and the authors generally make good choices when it comes to including theory. Every university should use this book as the text for their standard calculus sequences.
Rating: 
Summary: good as a lecture supplement...but not as a stand-alone text
Review: I actually took this class with Professor Etgen and found that the book was excellent as a lecture supplement. However, I wouldn't recommend this book to the self-motivated learner. The book's greatest strength (and perhaps only strength) is the vast selection of problems. Mathematical proofs are provided in the text, but appear to be there only for formality's sake rather than for deep understanding -- the emphasis here is application.
Rating: 
Summary: Not rigor, not dumbed down.
Review: I seen my roomates with this book and thought its just another one of those nonrigor books but its not so bad and problems are half bad and sometimes amusing. But... if you endeavor into rigor, eventually everyone who pursues this sense of madness has to, then perhap like said before Apostol or Spivok might suit you... Good book, not bad, look for used ones... I got mine for $4!
Rating:
Summary: Good book, not great.
Review: I took a basic calculus sequence in 1988 from the edition of Salas, Hille that was available at that time. I have not seen this new edition with Etgen, so I can only comment on the older editions. I found the calculus of one variable material to be well written with good helpful examples and numerous exercises. The multivariable material was not very well done ,however , and I paid the price for this later on in my math education. I think Salas, Hille was a good book for single variable calculus, but get another book when you get to multivariable.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the mediocre
Review: I used this book for Cal I-III and if you are quick at picking up concepts then go for it. I found some applied math books helpful in understanding difficult concepts. As the book progresses, the material is better for someone who already knows calculus. A lot of important concepts are explained bluntly with problems that are more advanced than the explanations. The epsilon delta section took me a while to grasp compared to other beginning topics, so if you have this book don't get discouraged. I didn't even see epsilon delta proofs until an advanced class that is devoted to that particular subject. Use as a reference, particularly the chapters that would normally constitute Cal II.
Rating:
Summary: Start with it but don't end with it!
Review: I used this book in my first engineering calculus course. The professor was incredibly theoretical and did not teach from the book which made matters somewhat difficult. However, he was showing us the meaning of math which I found refreshing. This book serves its purpose as one which teaches the mechanics of solving problems but very little in developing an intuitive feeling for mathematics. I must admit that the multitude of exercises were very helpful in getting comfortable with difficult mechanical problems. For single variable calculus it is a standard book with good examples, excellent diagrams, and some applications. Getting into multivariables, the ideas are not connected well and seem segragated from the rest of material. I guess as a brief overview, it makes its point but should not be used as a text for multivariable calculus. If you are interested in theory I recommend Apostol's Calculus which covers a great range of material with rigorous foundation. As far as exercises go, Michael Spivak's Calculus is quite challenging and will keep you occupied for months. All-in-all, a great book for brush up and single variable material but not to be used for higher dimensional analysis.
Rating:
Summary: Start with it but don't end with it!
Review: I used this book in my first engineering calculus course. The professor was incredibly theoretical and did not teach from the book which made matters somewhat difficult. However, he was showing us the meaning of math which I found refreshing. This book serves its purpose as one which teaches the mechanics of solving problems but very little in developing an intuitive feeling for mathematics. I must admit that the multitude of exercises were very helpful in getting comfortable with difficult mechanical problems. For single variable calculus it is a standard book with good examples, excellent diagrams, and some applications. Getting into multivariables, the ideas are not connected well and seem segragated from the rest of material. I guess as a brief overview, it makes its point but should not be used as a text for multivariable calculus. If you are interested in theory I recommend Apostol's Calculus which covers a great range of material with rigorous foundation. As far as exercises go, Michael Spivak's Calculus is quite challenging and will keep you occupied for months. All-in-all, a great book for brush up and single variable material but not to be used for higher dimensional analysis.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the mediocre
Review: This book is a stunning rebuke to all attempts to dumb down the math curriculum in high schools and colleges. This book, in my opinion, expects the student to have mastered precalculus at the level set forth in, say, David Cohen's Precalculus with unit-circle trigonometry (ISBN 0-534-35275-8). It introduces mathematical rigor in the Calculus 101 semester (of a three semester calculus program) and thereby begins preparing the math major for the hard analysis courses that comes later on. There are no cute stories featuring 'How I Use Math In The Workplace' to inspire you - your self esteem will be hard won as you master the concepts as presented here (especially the problems). The book's greatest strength is that it is basic and traditional in its approach to calculus - no problem or example requires obscure special tricks from mathematical journals or Isaac Newton level ingenuity. This book is a must get!
Rating:
Summary: Good for those who have already taken calculus
Review: This book is the third calculus book I've used since I first took a calculus course in high school, and it's hands down the worst I've seen. The examples in the book are aimed more towards the challenge problems in the back of each section. If you're having problems with Problem #1 in a particular section, don't expect this book to tell you how to do it. I suppose the writers assume that the reader already has a great understanding of what's going on.
<< 1 >>
| 
