Book recommendation for techniques of evaluating Series?

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around seeking recommendations for comprehensive books focused on techniques for evaluating series in mathematics. Participants express challenges in finding resources comparable to those available for integral calculus.

Discussion Character

  • Homework-related
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant emphasizes the difficulty in finding thorough books on evaluating series compared to those on integration, expressing a desire for comprehensive resources.
  • Another participant suggests that there are many tricks for summing series and mentions the existence of extensive books of tables and online tools, questioning the value of learning numerous tricks.
  • A different participant asks whether the original poster is struggling with series in a calculus or real analysis context and lists common techniques used for evaluating series, such as the Geometric Series Test and Ratio Test.
  • One participant proposes Stewart's Calculus book as a potential resource.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the importance of learning various techniques for evaluating series, with some advocating for a focus on fundamental concepts while others seek specific recommendations for comprehensive resources.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various techniques and tests for series evaluation, but there is no consensus on the best resources or approaches to learning these techniques.

Al-Layth
Messages
21
Reaction score
4
TL;DR Summary: I am looking for a good thorough book that is devoted to assembling and explaining techniques of evaluating series.

evaluating series is a very big problem for me right now. I know nowhere near as much about it as I do integration, and the main reason for this is that its quite easy to find detailed books devoted to techniques in integral calculus. But I can hardly find anything for series.

please recommend me something, the more comprehensive the better. I like books that do one specific thing very thoroughly.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vuthanhcrazy
Physics news on Phys.org
Al-Layth said:
TL;DR Summary: I am looking for a good thorough book that is devoted to assembling and explaining techniques of evaluating series.

evaluating series is a very big problem for me right now. I know nowhere near as much about it as I do integration, and the main reason for this is that its quite easy to find detailed books devoted to techniques in integral calculus. But I can hardly find anything for series.

please recommend me something, the more comprehensive the better. I like books that do one specific thing very thoroughly.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OUR06EO/?tag=pfamazon01-20

has both.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vuthanhcrazy
There are a million tricks for summing up a million different series. There are extensive books of tables and online tools. You might want to reconsider spending a lot of time on those tricks when there are so many fundamental mathematical subjects to learn. IMHO, only a handful of the tricks are worth learning.
But, to each his own.

PS. I have the same opinion of integration techniques.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vuthanhcrazy and Mondayman
Al-Layth said:
TL;DR Summary: I am looking for a good thorough book that is devoted to assembling and explaining techniques of evaluating series.

evaluating series is a very big problem for me right now. I know nowhere near as much about it as I do integration, and the main reason for this is that its quite easy to find detailed books devoted to techniques in integral calculus. But I can hardly find anything for series.

please recommend me something, the more comprehensive the better. I like books that do one specific thing very thoroughly.
Are you struggling with series in the context of a calculus class, or real analysis class?

Truth be told, the most common techniques for book style problems are the Geometric Series Test, P-Series Test, Ratio Test, Root Test, Divergence Test, Comparison Test, and I may be missing a few.

The trick with series is first understanding what a sequence is, convergence of sequence, what a series is, and convergence of a sequence.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
936
Replies
16
Views
4K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Replies
12
Views
4K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
3K
Replies
3
Views
4K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 26 ·
Replies
26
Views
6K