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Calculus Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Need better packaging...otherwise ok.
Comment: The book arrived on time, but it came in a huge box with no paper for padding. The edges looked a little beat up and given the fact that I bought it brand new, I can only assume that it came from poor packaging.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Stewart's Theorem: In textbook publishing, garbage rises to the top
Comment: Corollary: As the number of pretty pictures in a textbook increases, the beauty of the explanations declines.

Stewart's Theorem has become painfully obvious to many undergrads forced to pay a massive amount of money for a bulky book that causes endless confusion and heartache. I knew more than one person who needlessly changed their major because they found calculus so confusing, thanks to Dr. Stewart. He should have paid closer attention to his mentor, the legendary pedagogue George Polya, while he was attending Stanford. I was never good enough to get into Stanford, and yet I could explain calculus well enough that a few students were able to remain in a scientific/engineering discipline, even though Stewart was their text. Go figure.

Can I add any criticism to what's been said? Hardly, except perhaps to upbraid mathematics department heads who collude with textbook publishers to foist over-priced books on cash-strapped students. There are many good mathematics, science, and engineering books available from Dover books for very little cost. But you'll never, ever see a Dover book in a university bookstore (I'll send fifty bucks to anyone who can find a counterexample!) That's the reason why your college president earns the income of a corporate CEO. He knows how to play ball with people who matter. (And if you're a student, that isn't you, no matter what they tell you at orientation.)

I will admit that Stewart does give some very interesting and entertaining problems in the advanced sections, although any student who might want to do them will probably be too befuddled to tackle them. An advanced student looking to refine his or her skills will actually find some valuable material here, but if you're a novice, beware. This book is really as bad as everyone says--Amazon doesn't allow profanity, so you can't describe it properly in English.

To the beginner, I'd like to say: Do not despair. Calculus is a delightful subject, and if you've got a good guide (upperclassmen in physics, engineering, and math are particulary good resources), it isn't too hard. Find some better books, and don't bother criticizing Stewart around your professors. They've forgotten what is was like learning calculus; because they've mastered it, EVERY book looks good to them! And besides, being academics, they'll generally just say that it's good, not because they've thought about it, but because the department has chosen it for them, and all that talk you hear about "learning to think for yourself" isn't always widely practiced by people who say it.

Good luck, and maybe look up Silvanus Thompson, Michael Spivak, or Morris Kline. Those guys will help you out.

(And if you're a physics student being taking advanced electromagnetism or quantum mechanics, you can call it "Griffith's Rule." This theorem also dictates that, as the size and quality of the book decreases, the cost function increases exponentially, as does the number of crappy jokes.)

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good textbook!
Comment: As a math/chemistry major I am working on a thorough review of calculus theory and concepts this summer in preparation for my fall classes.This text is a very good introduction to calculus and analytic geometry. Provides both the theory behind the math as well as plenty of attention to practical applications in the sciences, business and economics for those who tend to say, "What good is math to me anyway?" There are plenty of worked examples in each chapter. There is also ample review of albebra and precalculus topics in the appendices as well as reference formulas on the front and back covers. Awesome three semester text especially if usd in conjunction with the solutions manual.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not for the "average joe"
Comment: I bought this book mainly for a reference. Looking through it, it seems to be like most all upper level math books -not very user friendly!
Why do these over-educated math nerds who write these books make them sooo hard to follow!?!? Although I can solve the problems in this book, I cant figure out why it is written on such a level to where the average person would have difficulty in learning calculus!
I do not recommend this book except for reference only!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Horrible for the first-time Calculus student
Comment: I am a college Calculus instructor, and I find this book terrible for many reasons. For students looking for a solid but much more inviting introduction to Calculus, I highly recommend Larson's book over Stewart's.

Here is a point-by-point breakdown of the faults I find in Stewart's text:

Clarity of Explanation and Content Level

Stewart's explanations are often verbose, unclear, and written at a
level too high for the average Calculus student. Several of my students
have told me reading the book only confused them and did not
clarify the concepts. An introductory text should offer simpler, clearer, and more concise explanations more appropriate to the typical Calculus student.

Presentation

In this day and age, students expect visually engaging presentations that will hold their attention. Stewart's presentations are drab and uninteresting. His book is everywhere packed with dense plain text and
formulas, giving the impression that Calculus is hard, dull, and very
complex, further intimidating students who are already scared of the
subject. Students are much more likely to carefully read a text that is
visually appealing and makes Calculus seem interesting and less
intimidating. This will also help reduce their anxiety over what many
already consider a very difficult course.


Readability

Another important aspect of presentation is layout and readability. Here
Stewart's text is again dismal: His pages are overstuffed with text and
graphics throughout the book, making it difficult to reference a
theorem, particular type of example, etc. It is hard to see where one
example or proof ends and another begins. The average student is not
going to read the entire contents of a section in full detail, but will
rather reference the topics s/he is having trouble with, in order to get
the details on a theorem or to find an example problem to help with a
homework exercise. This is very difficult to do in Stewart's text due to
the crowded and confusing layout.

Homework Exercises

Stewart's text is again particularly poor in terms of his homework sets in that he tends to offer a few low-level problems and then suddenly jump into extraordinarily difficult problems with no warning or transition. Stewart also tends to couch exceedingly difficult problems between a series of relatively straightforward ones, again without warning, which is very frustrating for students who find themselves struggling over what they think is an easy problem.

All in all, I strongly advise against this text, and would urge other Calculus instructors and mathematics departments to choose another Calculus book for their classes.

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