Thomas/Finney's Calculus - which edition?

[autodidude]

I'm currently learning Calculus from Morris Kline's 'An Intuitive and Physical approach' but it lacks exercises and I'm finding it difficult to gain a formal understanding of some concepts from it. So I browsed through a couple of Calculus books the local library had and the one that stood out for me was the 7th edition of 'Calculus with Analytical Geometry' (Thomas and Finney)

Anyway, I've decided to buy a copy but I've got 3 options, 7th, 8th or 9th editions. They're all roughly the same price, but 7th is the most expensive, 8th is the cheapest. Also, some review say that the questions presented aren't challenging enough in this book - did anyone find this a 'problem?'

Thanks

 

[brocks]

I doubt that many people have read all three so carefully that they can make an intelligent comparison, so I recommend that you read the preface of the 8th and 9th editions, and see how they differ from the 7th.

My experience with texts that have a new edition every couple of years is that the differences are usually not important, often just minor reorganizations, but once in a while they add or omit something substantial. I remember feeling cheated when the newer edition of a calculus book I bought (many years ago) turned out to have dropped a chapter on the derivation of Kepler's Laws.

You might also see if you can locate a student solutions guide for one of them. If so, that would be the one to get.