Beginner's Guide to Calculus: Free Online Courses & Resources

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    Beginners Calculus
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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around finding free online resources and books for learning calculus, particularly aimed at beginners. Participants share their experiences, recommendations, and challenges faced while trying to understand calculus concepts, with a focus on introductory materials suitable for someone with little to no background in the subject.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Homework-related
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant requests recommendations for free online calculus courses and beginner-friendly resources.
  • Another participant suggests several books, including "Calculus" by Stewart and "Calculus Made Easy," while also mentioning the availability of Schaum's Outline of Calculus.
  • Some participants express concerns about using Schaum's outlines for beginners, advocating instead for Stewart's book as a better starting point.
  • Links to various online video lectures are provided by a participant as additional resources for learning calculus.
  • Several participants share their personal experiences with learning calculus, including using older textbooks and the challenges they faced in understanding the material.
  • One participant mentions wanting to understand calculus to better follow a professor's online physics lectures, indicating a desire to connect calculus concepts with physics applications.
  • Another participant notes that they found the MIT OpenCourseWare materials helpful and suggests that any recent calculus material would likely be beneficial.
  • Some participants discuss their struggles with foundational concepts, such as functions, indicating varying levels of familiarity with the subject matter.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no clear consensus on the best resources for learning calculus, as participants express differing opinions on the suitability of specific books and materials. Some participants advocate for certain texts while others caution against them, indicating a range of perspectives on effective learning strategies.

Contextual Notes

Participants express varying levels of understanding of calculus and foundational mathematics, which may affect their ability to engage with recommended resources. Some mention needing additional support or introductory materials to bridge gaps in their knowledge.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for high school students or beginners in mathematics who are seeking guidance on where to start with calculus, as well as those looking for recommendations on resources that cater to different learning preferences.

Larrytsai
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Hey,
can anyone please post some free online calculus courses?
Right now I am in Gr.11 and i am currently taking Physics 11 and I sort of want to get ahead in Calculus. I have no idea where to start in calculus and I don't think I have any clue what Calculus is and what to do. So a site that teaches you from the very beginning would be pleased.

I've tried many sites I've even downloaded books, so any recommendation on books would be nice.

Remember I am very VERY new to calculus its like learning 1+1 all over again
 
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I hate reading stuff on the internet, or reading anything on the computer in general. Book recommendations:

Calculus by Stewart - good introductory, optional solution manual if needed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/053439339X/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Calculus Made Easy - I'm pretty sure you can check this out at any library.

Schaum's Outline of Calculus - go to Barnes and read it for free.
 
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I strongly advise against Schaum's outlines for a person who wants to learn Calculus from scratch. Stewart's calculus is advisable.
 
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I love the local friend of the library book sale. I have a library full of stuff from these sales from geometry to number theory, tensor analysis, advanced calculus, all kinds of stuff..

the advanced calculus book by Solkonikoff and the other by Apostel really helped prepare me for real analysis.

"even you can be a genius, for two dollars a bag."

:)
 
well right now i currently have the Stewarts thrid edition calculus book and right now I've read a couple pages scanned through the book and its still confusing :|. I think i should just wait and keep studying physics until i take the calculus course for school.
 
I agree that it's confusing and best to have a lecture introduce you to the concepts. After a few weeks you will probably be able to self-study on your own. Plus, you can always post here :-]
 
I first studied Calculus on my own from an old book from the book sale here.. it was published in something like 1927 or so.

H.B. Phillips, PHD
Published in London, wonder how it made it's way to the states..

1927.

The only difference between this and the class I later took.. they showed me how to use a graphing calculator..

plus no vector calculus in the old book.

I learned math "backwards".. had to go back and learn how to do algebra, partial fraction decomposition, factoring, etc..
 
Hammie said:
I first studied Calculus on my own from an old book from the book sale here.. it was published in something like 1927 or so.

H.B. Phillips, PHD
Published in London, wonder how it made it's way to the states..

1927.

The only difference between this and the class I later took.. they showed me how to use a graphing calculator..

plus no vector calculus in the old book.

I learned math "backwards".. had to go back and learn how to do algebra, partial fraction decomposition, factoring, etc..



hmm i was wonderin if i could get the book name if not in posted in there
 
  • #10
The book name is worn off the cover.. on the title page it's just "Calculus".

Looks like it really was published in U.S.

New York
John Wiley and Sons Inc

Stewart's was really good though.

This old book didn't go into a lot of explanation about the algebra involved. Forced me to go to other sources to figure out what was going on. Maybe that's why I remember the material in Calc I and II so well.

One thing I can say.. no knowledge I have gained from old material was wasted effort.
 
  • #11
oh. Well i don't think algebra would be a major problem for me. I just want to understand some calculus so i can fully understand Prof Shankhar from yale in his free online lectures
 
  • #12
Larrytsai said:
oh. Well i don't think algebra would be a major problem for me. I just want to understand some calculus so i can fully understand Prof Shankhar from yale in his free online lectures
Link please
 
  • #14
I think almost anything you can find would help. I personally like something written in front of me. Almost anything published in the last fifty years won't exactly steer you in the wrong direction..

anything that deals with differential and integral calculus would probably help..

MIT offers a downloadable package:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mathematics/18-01Fall-2006/DownloadthisCourse/index.htm
 
  • #15
Someone recommended on another thread: www.midnighttutor.com
I found this to be very informative and easy to understand.
 
  • #16
nanoWatt said:
Someone recommended on another thread: www.midnighttutor.com
I found this to be very informative and easy to understand.

well that would help if i knew just a bit of calculus. I'm coming from straight out of physics 11 with no calculus background. I don't even know what a function is >.<. I've looked up the def but still makes not much sense like i knw that f (x) is probably a function (hopefully I am right) but i don't knw what f (x) means
 
  • #17
Well you may not know the "formal" definition of a function, but you have certainly used it a lot ...
 

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