» Calculus for the Forgetful

Calculus for the Forgetful Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Concise Calculus
Comment: Calculus for the Forgetful by Wojciech Kosek is an excellent short calculus book. The author fundamentally achieves the goals outlined in the preface. The prose highlights the "core ideas and concepts" of the subject. Enhancement with proofs and examples is natural and easy. I certainly would consider using this as a primary text if supplemented with a collection of exercises, problems, and projects.

I am used to teaching calculus in a very intensive format in which each class lasts 3½ weeks. The professor must "trim all the fat" (some say "execute a full liposuction") in order to achieve success. Thus, I naturally favor a shorter treatment than the usual encyclopedic calculus text. Kosek's effort certainly is the best I have come across. I will recommend it to my students as a supplement to text adopted by my department. In fact, I will suggest they buy and keep Calculus for the Forgetful and sell the regular text to a subsequent student.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Less is more.
Comment: This book is the perfect response to the modern calculus textbook that provides so much information that students can't see the forest for the trees. It focuses tightly on building understanding of central concepts by the use of intuitive arguments and well chosen examples. Particularly effective are the examples that address common misunderstandings and mistakes by demonstrating what not to do.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The perfect Scaffolding
Comment: This book has all the right scaffolding to hold up the building that is calculus. Small, easy to carry and has everything you need in a calculus reference. Plus, while covering the basics nicely, there are expert comments included for those who are interested, and they are marked by a different type-setting so that the user who just needs to get in and get out can easily skip these parts. Perfect for the calculus 2, 3, physics, engineering, or other student who needs the occassional calculus refresher/reference.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Indispensable Resource
Comment: I'm really impressed with the way this book handles complicated and subtle calculus ideas in an accessible way. I hadn't taken calculus in quite some time when I first looked at it, and it really did jog my memory! If you're looking for a good resource that isn't a textbook (or that doesn't pack the price of a textbook but covers the same material), this is it!

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