Venturing into calculus - basic book required ;

[dreamLord]

Hey.

So I've decided to teach myself calculus. I bought 'Calculus Made Easy' by Sylvanus Thompson, and finished it recently, and must say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So now I need a book that is at the next level. I have a problem with long texts - anything longer than 200-300 pages and my enthusiasm drops off slowly. Also, I'm doing Calculus purely because of Physics, so I doubt I require THAT much rigour.

I found Calculus Made Easy pretty easy on the whole, but some questions tough. So I need a really easy text to progress. Suggestions? Thanks!

 

[mathwonk]

elliot gootman has a nice one. but if you finished calculus made easy you may be ready for a more difficult one than you think. you might try one of thomas' books or one of thomas and finney, or edwards and penney, or cruse and granberg.

 

[dreamLord]

Elliot Gootman isn't available at the bookstore I normally order from =/

As I said, I didn't finish CME with a breeze, I had a decent amount of stoppages during question solving. Still, can you recommend me something specific from those authors ? Shortest and easiest is what I need. I don't have much time to delve into the details as I need to concentrate on my Physics. Thanks !

 

[oddball_matt]

Thomas' Calculus is a brilliant book and I believe it's suitable for you. Plenty of questions and examples. From cover to cover, it's about a thousand pages - but it's mostly questions and examples.
If you want something shorter, try Understanding Calculus Concepts by Eli Passow - part of the Schaum's Outline series. Less than 300 pages. Short texts and many worked examples.
But I believe you should try Thomas' Calculus. You can easily get the book and its solution manual online.