It's hard to believe that this puzzling, error-filled book is in its 7th edition.

I've been using the book for two semesters in a distance learning program. In this setting, where the reader needs to learn from the book rather than from an instructor, the book is inadequate. It's single strength - brevity - doesn't make up for its weaknesses: mystifying explanations, worked examples that omit important steps, and errors. Many times, this book made me laugh out loud when, after literally hours of effort, I finally understood what the authors were trying to communicate. There is no way I could have completed my classes had I not had Swokowski to refer to.

Beyond these weaknesses, the book is loaded with throw-away Horatio Algerisms ("Skill at this, like most worthwhile activities, depends on practice.") and hokey humor ("We have no desire to let this text suffer from the standard ailment of older texts, called 'revisionitis.'") These give the book a dated, musty feel: it's as if you are looking back at how calculus used to be taught 40 years ago.

Finally, six weeks into the first semester, the binding failed, converting the book into an expensive, 900-page, loose-leaf folder. Overall, not a book I enjoyed spending time with.

This book is thoroughly at home with the important concepts of single-variable Calculus for beginners, and has an exceptionally fine manner of explanation that appeals both to my AP Calculus students and me. The author is careful to give rigorous proofs when needed, which is often, and informal proofs elsewhere, so that in the latter event the student does not get bogged down with such an exhaustive degree of proof that the concept suffers, especially where self-evident yet hard-to-prove theorems are concerned.

Topics covered are comprehensive and co-ordinated. I find the level perfectly suited to a bright high school senior class, ie. for AP Calculus.

There is extensive reference to, and questions designed for the use of, graphing calculators. In that regard this text is right in line with recent AP Calculus requirements.

With a vast array of clear, illuminating examples, well illustrated with excellent diagrams, this text is a joy to learn from.

Accompanying each topic is a very substantial number of questions, ordered by an extensive variance in degrees of difficulty. There is a student answer book which contains detailed solutions of all the odd-numbered questions, and a teacher's answer book for the evens.

I have come back to the teaching of Calculus at high school after a hiatus of many years. This text has been a very effective, most excellent refresher for me, and a great first text for my students.

As the book is a preliminary edition, there are some annoying little errors here and there, particularly in the solutions or worked examples. Fortunately they are usually completely obvious.

Also because it is preliminary, this text is in soft cover, not ideal as a course text.

I chose this book after reviewing about a dozen or so of better known, established and well-regarded single-variable Calculus texts. It seemed at the time to be clearly the best of the lot. Putting it to the test since has done nothing but strengthen that opinion.

A really first rate text book

Requirements for all books should be;

(a). being able to feel attachment for.
(b). clearly understandable to readers in the assumed level.
(c). benefitial to buy and read.
(d).[equivalent to (a), (b), and (c)]. unique.

This book satisfies all the above conditions [and (d)]. The style is very accessible to everyone who knows algebra. Math lovers who want to go beyond algebra should buy this book. Now, its particular uniqueness are the followings: mine has been separated into many stapled pages, though I personally like to sort them whenever I touch the book; examples are enough to illustrate introduced theorems. Of course, it doesn't end up with down-to-earth proofs. Wherever that might happen, it says so, and theorems that can not be proven with attainable knowledge are "left for advanced Calculus courses." Consequently, all presented proofs are quite rigorous in understandability.

(c) will follow for appropriate readers.

Good to start with, and will be one of your old friends.

Incomplete explanations, poor exposition, and left-out steps make this a poor choice for the calculus newbie. I tried to learn calculus on my own with this book and was tripped-up repeatedly by this totally inadequate textbook. I then picked up a copy of Calculus with Analytic Geometry by George F. Simmons which was a pleasure to read and work-through. This book even manages to make the concept of limits fuzzy; a problem which the Simmons book cleared up immediately. This text might be a concise refresher for someone who has studied the subject before, but if you are looking for a textbook to study on your own, steer clear.

As an avid Burroughs collector, I awaited the receipt of "Collecting Edgar Rice Burroughs" with great anticipation. After reading the book, I debated whether to return it for a refund. It is of almost no value to a collector. First, it contains no information about any of the Tarzan books. Secondly, it contains no information or valuation for any of the A.L. Burt or Grosset and Dunlap editions of Burroughs books. Thirdly, valuations for first editions are only given with the dust jacket, no value is given for the book without the dust jacket. Fourthly, the values given for those first editions are grossly inflated. I regularly buy those same books in Burroughs auctions for approximately 1/10th the price at which Erardi valuates them. Fifthly, none of the information needed to discriminate between a first edition and a second printing is given.

There is really very little information in this book. It consists mostly of color pictures of various dust jackets and paperback and pulp covers. If pictures of the artwork are what you want, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a reference book to help in your collecting of Edgar Rice Burroughs, look somewhere else.