Student Solutions Manual, Volume 2, to accompany Calculus and Analytic Geometry

Rating:
Summary: The worst math book ever
Review: I have been doing calculus for a very long time and I am appalled by the ugly approach to mathematics by these two authors. Math is so beautiful because it is not phoney and the outcome is useful, exciting, tangible, palpable. But not here. The authors simply love wasting time and energy with useless stuff like proving limits that are instinctively so obvious. What next, prove that 1+1=2? You might get sick of math reading this book, but it's not maths fault, really.

Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Math Book
Review: The authors have written a superb text. New material is introduced intuitively and graphically and then the proofs are given. It makes math fun. This book is the best introduction to calculus that I have read. The clearity of exposition, the natural transitions from easier to more difficult material is seamless. A real joy to see math taught so well. The layout of the book is thoughtfully designed, especially important in math books where it is easy to clutter up a page with too many math symbols. If you want to see math presented in the finest way possible, this is the book to get. Especially good for self instruction. Has a student's solution book - purchased separately.

Rating:
Summary: Probably the best mathematics text I have read.
Review: The authors have written a superb text. New material is introduced intuitively and graphically and then the proofs are given. It makes math fun. This book is the best introduction to calculus that I have read. The clearity of exposition, the natural transitions from easier to more difficult material is seamless. A real joy to see math taught so well. The layout of the book is thoughtfully designed, especially important in math books where it is easy to clutter up a page with too many math symbols. If you want to see math presented in the finest way possible, this is the book to get. Especially good for self instruction. Has a student's solution book - purchased separately.

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
Review: This book has helped me come into a firm understanding of some heavy calculus, and I now do well in my calculus classes. Thank you to Newton, for coming up with this stuff (and hijacking Liebniz' notes), and to the two authors, who made calculus easy to understand and very powerful as a tool of the future.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant method
Review: This book is literally the best basic calculus text you can possibly get. Anyone wanting to start learning calculus NOW should get this. No real previous mathematical knowledge is necessary. There are several appendices on algebra and series etc. The book discusses trigonometry, so you can learn the book practically without knowing a thing. The "feeling" of the book is inexplicable. Reading this book really gave me an true understanding of basic calculus. Excellent for people like me who need proofs (especially visual ones) have a solid grasp on concepts. If your only goal in learning calculus is to do well on examinations, this book is definately not for you. You should get "Calculus for Dummies" or something like that. The great thing about the text is that it appeals to almost everyone. If there is a certain chapter you don't care for or doesn't matter to you, for example on methods of graphing, you can just skip it, and it will not do any harm. Highly intelligently organized. If you want some help in you physics class on basic vector algebra, just turn to chaper 18 and just read! This book is full of applications, which is great. It also has several historical notes. The colors make the book very engaging to read. Unless your colorblind, this will help engage your interest. Very adequate spacings on the paper as to keep you clearheaded and focused. The drawings rival those of Picasso. They show calculus to be a LIVELY subject. The examples (inside the chapters) are very helpfull. Stein offers several suggestions on how to solve certain problems. Its a shame; this book does not attract the amount of attention it deserves. I did get stuck a couple times; but that is inevitable. Definately get this one: its a gem to have. I can understand how some people would hate this book; its not very concise. That should not be a hindrance. If you feel there is no need to read on about a subject, skip some pages. At the end of chapters it all comes together with a summary of the most important concepts. The book prepares you for study of calculus-based sciences such as physics, and for more advanced mathematical topics as well. I worship this book.

Rating:
Summary: excellent for basic calculus ....
Review: This book is the best place to start to learn calculus. It starts from very basic principles and also contains some more advanced stuff like Stokes Theorem etc. Some readers may find that the book contains too many basic trivial explanations, but I see this as a strength. When you start learning calculus, I think it is a good idea to explain even the trivial, to make sure that you have a good understanding of really everything. I am sure that most readers will benifit from this, even those already having some more advanced math knowledge. Yes : even this latter group will appreciate the benifits of this book, they can always skip some explanations but will benifit from the very clear exposition of more advanced concepts like Stokes Theorem etc ... Myself for instance, I like the more rigorous and abstract math like "real mathematical analysis", but when I need to refresh some calculus and geometry techniques, this book is really the best to sharpen my intuition and understanding of calculus.
Another excellent feature of the book : this book should serve as an example for the layout of math books : it contains a lot of spacing (handy to make personnal annotations), contains a lot of examples, and contains a lot of excellent pictures illustrating a concept... Also some nice anecdotes are added to keep the reader interested. I wish all math books were like this.
If math is not your strongest skill and you need to learn some higher calculus this book will be your excellent companion helping you to gain the insight and intuition you need. If you are busy with more advanded and abstract math, this book also has something to offer to you : this book serves as a fallback point for sharpening your mathematical intuition and refreshing some concepts that you might have forgotten.
Small drawbacks are : -Some more advanced concepts (like Stokes Theorem) are very well explained, but others are explained without proof (convergence of series...) or with simplified proofs (for instance limited to two dimensional cases, though excellent again to gain mathematical intuition). Maybe this is acceptable for a calculus course, but may disappoint the reader who is looking for rigour.

Conclusion : perfect book to gain insight in calculus, it suits well on the shelf of everybody busy who needs calculus...