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Rating: 
Summary: Not Helpful in the Least
Review: Another MIT student here... unfortunately not all calc. classes at MIT has stopped using this book. As a result the majority of our class is hopelessly lost... and this is at MIT!!!... now that's a testament to how bad the book is... Things aren't explained well, the examples have nothing to do with the actual problems, and without the "space wasting" graphics that so many other books have it's difficult to visualize what Simmons is talking about, and despite popular opinion visualizing what you are doing is very important to calculus. I'm relying on my HS calc book to get me through the course.
Rating: 
Summary: Black and White
Review: I discovered this book about ten years ago. It may not be the best text to learn from, but just to refresh your memory and see a new approach to the subject it is excellent. The historical references are also very much appreciated. Throw out most of the exercises, some of the pictures, and all of the color, and then you would have the perfection!
Rating:
Summary: Best! ~ Best! ~ Best!
Review: It definitly helps one who want to master Calculus or join the Calculus competiton of any kinds. It better than "Calculus With Analytic Geometry, Seventh Edition" for it give you some useful appendixs and very simplify than it. It does not includ differential equation for as the author said that it is not useful when there is a full course on differential equation!!!
Rating:
Summary: Best! ~ Best! ~ Best!
Review: It definitly helps one who want to master Calculus or join the Calculus competiton of any kinds. It better than "Calculus With Analytic Geometry, Seventh Edition" for it give you some useful appendixs and very simplify than it. It does not includ differential equation for as the author said that it is not useful when there is a full course on differential equation!!!
Rating:
Summary: safe to say it is the best calc book that is still in print
Review: Out of the millions and millions of textbooks out there and the thousands I have seen since recently completing grad school and teaching undergrad math for the past few years: I have found that a good book is really hard to find. Further, I was recently recommended Simmons's ODE book for a course & really liked the presentation; thus, I wrote McGraw Hill & asked for a copy any of his other books.
Further, they sent me a copy of his calc book (ISBN 0070576424) and it was a pleasant surprise. A well presented and logically order calc book. This book is not a million pages long nor does it ramble on aimlessly about things that are not necessary to the subject (for which I think many authors just put in to make there books look nice).
Simions did stick with the Late transcendental standard approach, but what I found extremely interesting is that he also pushed the tirg items back also; thus, the part one of this book (basic differentiation / integration) could feasible be used for an applied one semester course clac course ( business clac etc.,), but then on the same note all of the material is there to cover very in depth the concepts of integrating trig functions + some of the applications considered in a regular calc w/ anal geom class. Did I mention that he also has a beautiful appendix that really covers what a limit is ( delta / epsilon stuff) and also has some interesting material on functions that cannot be integrated and advanced convergence test + He has two chapters on series (which is nice because that is truly the backbone of calculus & the students need to focus more on that early rather than being pushed through & then later confused in an advanced calc course ). Then in the later chapters ( multi dim calc) he has many neat applications (derivations Maxwell's equations, Graviton laws, derivation of 3 classic PDE's etc.,) + A nice chapter on Line / Surface integral + Green's & Stokes thrms..
So to me this book has solved my problem: when teaching a course I would usually have an adopted textbook that covers most, then I would need to pull some material from somewhere else, but this book eliminates that: it covers what is needed to be a formal "adopted book for a course" but at the same time it has all kinds of neat resources & applications that I can utilize to make the course more interesting + show either applications or dive more into theory. Thus, I would strongly recommend taking a look at this book for the course you are teaching, & if you are a student I would recommend looking at Simmions' books to study from, his ODE book is very readable + covers a lot of material & his topology book is a classic in the subject but can be read with some patients + a good understanding of introductory real analysis..
Rating:
Summary: Best Calculus book I've seen
Review: Speaking as an average math student, I found Dr. Simmons' book to be the best "read" of any text out there. The book's writing style was excellent, the example problems were quite helpful, and the appendicies were terrific-- especially the biographical sketches of history's mathematical greats. Those made for a pleasant break when the rigors of infinite series or double integrals took their toll! On a technical level, the book is as solid as any out there, and does a fine job of covering two semesters' worth of calculus. From derivatives to gradients, it's all in there.
Rating:
Summary: Instigates the passion for Maths
Review: This book is not a rigorous book with proofs and theorems. On the contrary, it is a book that succesfully accomplishes the task of presenting the subject and explaining it in a simple, easy and readable language. The book stresses the beauty of Calculus by using very ingenious but not at all rigorous proofs. Those proofs are generally faster to understand and they accomplish the goal of convincing the reader that the theorems really work and are true. The book also features two marvellous appendixes on some curious topics on Maths and on the most important mathematicians of all times showing their biographies and achievements.
Rating:
Summary: Best Textbook Ever!
Review: This is probably the best science textbook ever written and definately the best science textbook I have used. Reading this book you actually find yourself feeling as if the author was actually concerend with educating and keeping the students interested and not just pumping out a text book. Forget a professor, this book is better than any science teacher I ever had. Somebody mentioned that the author does not have many graphics/diagrams. That is simply becasue the book does not need them. After finding this book I realized why so many other authors dump graphics in their books. It's simply because they don't have the gift for prose that G. Finlay has. If you want to be excited to learn about calculus buy this book.
Math/Philosophy/History...this book has it all!
Rating:
Summary: My guide through calculus
Review: When I was a freshman in College, a friend of mine showed a book. As I was taking Calculus I simply took it at hand and started to read it. I was surprised because the explanation was
so clear and the text was so well written and in many ways very artistic. I bought it and this book helped me very much. It covers the genesis of calculus, the very basics of limits and function, introduces differential equations, it is very precise on describing differential and integral calculus, it gives you a solid knowledge of Analic Geometry, it is a very good guide to series and my favorite area is more than 1 dimension functions.
Its exercises vary from those which teach you the way of thinking through those very hard ones that simply grant that you got it all.
One of the best comments I ever read in a book for Enginneers was one that the author made about solving non linear equations.
I can't remember literally but it was something like "you should try to solve this non-linear equation using your intelligence, yet sometimes you won't really find a solution". That comment for a Math book is such a evolution.
Apart from the Math issues, the author has a deep knowledge
of Phylosophy of Science and its story. Simply one of my 3 favorite technical/ science books ever.
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