This is the best calculus book I've used. I purchased as a student after finding it in the library, despite it not being the required text for school. Concepts are explained well and a variety of examples are clearly worked out in each section. I highly recommend this book.

textbook for college algebra.

As with his other texts, Larson approaches subjects from an analytical perspective AND from a graphic/geometric perspective.
This allows students who despise the Xs, Ys, and Zs of algebra to "see" what might otherwise escape them if approached only analytically.

Excellent text.

One of the best parts of this text book is the beautiful array of supplementary figures and graphs. Many worked out examples provide the reader with a thorough knowlege of the concepts before diving deeper into theory and application. This text book starts at chapter 11 (the reader should have had at most 2 semesters of calculus)

Chapter 11 on vectors and geometry of space offer a solid foundation for understanding basic vector functions and operations (dot and cross product, projection and components, etc.), 3-D geometrical shapes (paraboloid, hyperboloids of 1 or 2 sheets, etc.), as well as applications for both, also cylindrical and spherical coordinates.

Chapter 12 on vector-valued functions initiates the idea of rate, velocity, and acceleration vectors and their relationship including vector differentiation, tangent and normal vectors, and arc length and curvature.

Chapter 13 does a wonderful job introducing functions of several variables, using limits, differentials, partial differentiation rules, gradients, max/minimization, and applications.

Chapter 14 on multiple integration is much easier to understand using this text than others. Lots of physics applications using area, volume, center of mass, moment of inertia, and change of variables.

Chapter 15 returns to vectors with topics such as curl (with physical interpretation), divergence, line and surface integrals, Green's thm, Stoke's thm, flux, and parametric surfaces.

Chapter 16 concludes the text by introducing differential equations. Basic concepts, separation of variables, exactness, homogenous equations, and power series solutions offer both as a learning tool and as somewhat of a refresher course.

Overall, the book is very well-written, from the introduction which illustrates the many advantages of calculus over algebra, the insight into careers using mathematics, to the appendices with proofs of theorems, basic differentian rules and answers to odd-numbered exercises (even exercises for the first 10 chapters), this book is a work of art for any math and/or science student.

Ron Roberts has written 10 books, each one a gem. He is Professor of Sociology at the
University of Northern Iowa. He has always written pretty much what he wanted to write.
His books are a pleasure to read, as they take the reader through all the twists and turns of life.

Ordinary Ghosts tells the story of a small town in Iowa, where Ron Roberts grew up. By the time you are
done reading this book you will know some of the people, a few of the ghosts, and a lot
more than you ever wanted to know about such a place. Then again, as the book is so much fun to read,
my bet is you will sell your home in the city and move your family to Iowa. Ordinary Ghosts grabs you and
will not let go.

_Reinventing Inequality_ was published almost 20 years ago and still has a fresh perspective. I don't know why it has been overlooked, altho a lack of publisher PR was no help. Roberts and Brintnall apply sociology and anthropology to a series of seemingly unexplainable phenomena around the world and show how class, race, gender, ethnic, etc. inequalities actually fit into patterns and can be explained by a series of materialistic, economic, ecological and political principles operating on cultures of all types since time immemorial. Read it!! [Disclosure note--I wrote the original preface, but I get no royalties and was not paid for the intro which I heartily re-endorse here!]

I have to agree that larson's calculus is a very comprehensive calculus text. It includes a lot of material and applications.

If you are going to selfstudy calculus, i have some advices:
1 Not every section is necessary. Some sections are mainly about applications in mechanical engineerings(actually, most applications). If you are not interested in ME, just skip them.

2 Don't go too fast. If you don't have time, just skip some sections of the end of each chapters. Especially at the end of the book. Chapter 14 is quite confusing. Read them slowly, understand piece by piece.

If you are a math major, particularly pure math, this is not a book for you. You need a book that talks more about theory.

After one confusing (first) semester of calculus using Thomas' Early Transcendentals, my school's math department switched to this text for second semester. Thank goodness! This text is much more clear, with examples that take you through the important steps of the problems. Sometimes the text will leave out a step in the example, but usually it's something from trig or pre-calc. The use of graphics in the examples are very helpful as well; the important theorems are boxed/highlighted, as are useful tips to solving the problems.

The exercise problems at the end of each section are never huge surprises. As for their difficulty, they tend to start out easy and end with the more challenging word problems. When I was confused or frustrated, it helped to go back and re-read the examples. The Thomas text's examples were extremely difficult (for us non-MIT level math students) and unrelated/inconsistent with the exercises.

The editing of Larson's text is fantastic, because there are relatively few errors (whereas Thomas' was full of them). And I especially liked the photographs and brief biographies of the famous mathematicians sprinkled throughout each chapter, because they humanize this mysterious and feared subject.

I'd say that this book made calculus less scary and much more manageable. I still had to study really hard to ace the class, but at least it wasn't because the book was overly confusing.

This is the only book I recommend to someone learning calc for the first time.

Larson's approach is practical, logical, thorough, and most importantly, CLEAR!!!!

This book would be good for someone who already knows calculus and wants to refresh their skills. In the mathmatical examples there are gaps where more explination is needed. If The book where more thorough in its explinations then the student could learn the subject with a lot less trouble.

This book was the textbook for a Calc 2 class that I took. It had been a long time since I took calc 1, and had forgotten most of the information. This book did a nice job of providing clear examples, and thoughtful exercises. It is one of the most readable math books that I have read (and there are a lot of bad ones out there). I would strongly recommend getting the answer guide also, since the answers in the book do not show how the problem was solved. Sometimes your answer could be correct, but appears different than the answer in the back because of the algebra involved.

I'm studying my major and I really need to learn Calculus. Even this book is for people who have studied this subject before it makes you think and imagine what you are doing. Sometimes it explains shortly some chapters, but it helps you to improve your skill and to learn by the way of thinking and imagination. I'll recommend this book for everyone who likes Math (specially Calculus) and who really wants to learn it well. In my own opinion is a nice book and what makes it special is the MATHEMATICA sofware it uses as well as it teaches you Calculus. If I have someday to teach Calculus I will use this book. The only problem... is ... as the MATHEMATICA software.

The Storyteller screen conveniently puts most of the frequently referenced charts and tables at the ST's fingertips, while providing plenty of room to hide dice rolls and ST notes. Frontier Secrets gives additional gifts, ideas about antagonists (information about Wild West Fomori), and plenty of other surprises for both players and storytellers. All in all, a great "supplement" for anyone running (or even playing) in a Werewolf Wild West game... even more so for the book than for the screen.

This is your average math textbook. I haven't had any problems with it. It gives pretty good examples and explanations for each section.

Sorry the book I meant to post was "3,000 Solved Problems in Calculus".

This book is good because it give you clear (easy) examples of the material it is explaining. The practice problems are also very good because they start off from the most basic then progress to advanced. This books has a lot of practical real world problems. Some of the material can be difficult at times, that's why I suggest you purchase "3000 Solved Problems in Precalculus (Schaums Solved Problems Series)" in addition to this book. The Solved Problems Series helps when you're studying quick examples just before the test.

this book does not cover any new material learned in even a BAD high school trigonometry course and ninth grade algebra other than polar cooridinates and parametric equations. do not use this above the high school level. there is ALOT of stuff you already know. don't use this book even for a review unless you dont know ninth grade math. the topics of functions are so obvious, yet he covers them over about 7 chapters.

I was primarily disappointed with the lack of rigor. But it has more pretty pictures than math textbooks I remember from high school, in case you need that sort of thing to keep your (or your students') interest. I would rather have paid less for a black-and-white text that doesn't hurt your arms to hold up to read (the dimensions of the book also make that awkward). There are nice little blurbs about various relevant/famous mathemeticians. The book strives to give a lot of real-world examples, and for that I give it 3 stars instead of 2. If you are looking for a book with that kind of emphasis, you may find this to be just what you want. I have to agree with an earlier reviewer that my highschool trig and precalc course were much more detailed and had more depth.

PS: I am still searching for an errata sheet.

I have taught from this text for 3 years now. It is excellent. My students like the text and find the explanations helpful. I would recommend this text to any teacher who is hunting for a good preparation for calculus.