Vector Analysis: Bridging Math and Physics with Rigor and Visuals

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ice109
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something for a mathematician that likes physics or a physicist that likes math. rigorous but with pictures and examples and the such?
 
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ice109 said:
the first one is a calc book apparently and has terrible reviews and the second one is a math methods book with terrible reviews but thanks anyway
I would take terrible reviews on Amazon.com with a grain of salt. Many of those reviews are by lazy, underprepared, or unprepared students who are looking to vent their frustrations with a book that they were not willing, ready or able to tackle. If none of those suggestions appeal to you, some standard textbooks for a second course in vector calculus / calculus on manifolds include Spivak, Calculus on Manifolds; Munkres, Analysis on Manifolds; C. H. Edwards, Advanced Calculus of Several Variables; and H. M. Edwards, Advanced Calculus: A Differential Forms Approach. Of those, the last book by H. M. Edwards is probably the closest to what you're looking for. But I would warn you that, since you cannot identify that vector analysis is the same as vector calculus or that it would likely be covered fairly extensively in a math methods book, you may not be adequately prepared to tackle any of these books.
 
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Bowen's book posted by robphy is really good, if you're willing to deal with ugly typesetting and some typos. Edwards' book on advanced calculus with differential forms is a current project of mine, so I'll let you know how it goes. A more typical book on vector analysis though,is Marsden & Tromba's Vector Calculus. EDIT: which I just realized has already been posted. Sorry.

YET ANOTHER EDIT: If you'd like to learn about differential forms, here's a paper on the arXiv which was turned into a book: A Geometric Approach to Differential Forms
 
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