Question

Calculus Textbook Suggestions?
I'm an incoming Junior, and I wanted to (partially) self study Calculus over the summer so that I would fair better in my AP Calc class next year.
Any suggestions? My friend suggested Stewart's, but the reviews are quite hit and miss for it.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Answer 1

This is what I did

Answer 2

PIcked up an 80's text book and started reading it

Answer 3

Don't do what I did.

Answer 4

Online resources. We live in the information age.

Answer 5

try reading a textbook, they give justification

Answer 6

Khan academy is good for "understanding" concepts imo, but you really need a textbook if you want formal justification

Answer 7

http://khanacademy.com

Answer 8

Khan Academy is awesome. Just learn from there

Answer 9

ya

Answer 10

But if I had to use a textbook... what would be the suggestions?

Answer 11

James Stewart Early Trancesdental Calculus 7e

Answer 12

Not sure about where you live, just ask your teacher and he/she
should guide you well
If you are looking for ebook, try this
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33283

Answer 13

@Argonx16 Pick up a newer one

Answer 14

And my suggestion is to look at the reviews, and then just read it. It's not the textbook really. It's the person. Ok, it's the textbook, but all textbooks are very similar, so you should'nt have too much trouble.

Answer 15

Try getting a textbook with lots of justification, because even if you don't readit, it willb e helpful in the future.

Answer 16

I would suggest NOT getting something like "calc for dummies" or "easy calc", because they are to teach you the concepts, and khanacademy is more than good enough to do that.

Answer 17

Well,I completely agree with inkvoyd sugestion. They should act as an intro for your calaculus,but its the kind of textbooks as mentioned by inkvoyd, which is very descriptive and with good number of examples on various concepts . Simply practice makes your math perfect

Answer 18

@inkyvoyd do you know of any good ones? :D
@jmacar89 what did you think of the book? The reviews are pretty evenly split between love/hate

Answer 19

Well, to be honest, I'm in taiwan, and am illiterate in chinese. I've had quite the trouble self studying calc; I just picked up a book that my uncle used, (calculus and analytic geometry by blah blah 6th edition)

Answer 20

I think the will to learn drove me to understand, not the book itself

Answer 21

Try buying a book without reviews written that it has mistakes, and just go with it.

Answer 22

Really, khan academy is the best for learning a concept.

Answer 23

And if you have any problem, then openstudy is always there to help you :D

Answer 24

I suggest Paul's Online Notes. I am also self learning and I find it quite easy to understand and I am only Form 3 (Grade 9 perhaps?).
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/CalcI.aspx

Answer 25

@saifoo.khan will give u a better one!

Answer 26

I like the James Stewart book that I have. I don't have anything else to compare it to, but I think it's great. It's pretty easy to understand

Answer 27

Khanacademy is still best i think. coz that guy shows us step by step and do example problems.
And you can try out problems there too.. they have exercises too.

Answer 28

Khan academy dude assumes you have no good basis of trig and math before. He might make you feel like he's an idiot, but he's really just making sure he fills those holes up before you lose understanding.

Answer 29

Lol, @inkyvoyd you need some sleep man.

Answer 30

You need to l2 timezone bro. ;)

Answer 31

l2?

Answer 32

It's 3:30 pm right now for me.

Answer 33

Wrong.
3:24pm

Answer 34

Seriously,stop trolling here :)

Answer 35

I live 5 minutes ahead of you guys. Problem?

Answer 36

Yes, a huge problem.

Answer 37

Did I break the space time continum?

Answer 38

Stay away from skinny calculus books. I used the Calculus by Finney, Demana, Waits and Kennedy and it was a nice size book but did not have enough practice problems. Now I look for books that are a bit thicker that have more practice problems. Buy the student solution manual. Check to see what book your teacher is using, probably best to use the same book, just so when you use it in class then it will make more sense to you.

Answer 39

http://www.calculus-help.com/tutorials
good website to watch videos, explains limits in a nice way for beginners

Answer 40

anything by stewart is great imo

Answer 41

@zzr0ck3r do you have any experience with any other (non-Stewart) textbooks? As @emily.polhemus demonstrated, people either love him, or just hate him.

Answer 42

I think any book that has many practice problems and has instructions a student can follow will do. Many say Paul Forester wrote a student friendly book but I do not like the book. That does not mean it is a good or bad book, you have to be able to follow the book as a student. I like to look at many different books because one author might do a better job in a concept versus another author.