# Which book should i get for me to learn calculus all by myself

1. Jun 28, 2008

### janemba

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2. Jun 28, 2008

### nicksauce

I would say neither. You probably want something more rigorous if you want to learn calculus by yourself, at least on the level of Stewart. Books like this should probably only be an accompaniment to a good textbook.

If you had to go for one or the other, I would probably say the Demystified book, as I have heard fairly good things about the series.

3. Jun 28, 2008

### janemba

thanks

4. Jun 28, 2008

### vociferous

Get something like the REA: Problem Solver. If you are trying to study it on your own, do all of the problems, because you will not have an instructor to test your knowledge.

Applied Calculus is something that has barely changed in the last century, but still textbook manufacturers publish new editions. Instead of dropping $200 on the latest Stewart book, look for an older edition that you could probably pick up for about ten dollars. Reading about math is no substitute for doing it. 5. Jun 28, 2008 ### razored Why not take a shot at Spivak's Calculus? Or Apostol ? Both are quite rigorous. 6. Jun 29, 2008 ### kts123 I picked up Calculus on an "Idiot's Guide to" and "CALCULUS: An Intuitive and Physical Approach," by Morris Kline (it's only around$30.) From first hand experience I can tell you though, you will NEED a work book to practice everything you learn -- and you might want to think about picking up a regular text book after you get the basics down. Simple books will teach you the basics, but you will never "feel" Calculus with them.

Also, if you haven't already, I suggest you study Trigonometry (trust me, coordinate systems without trig are useless -- you'll find yourself memorizing formula's that you should be able to make yourself in a few seconds.)

7. Jun 29, 2008

### razored

In my opinion,
"Simple books will teach you the basics, but you will never "feel" Calculus with them."
Not really.

"Also, if you haven't already, I suggest you study Trigonometry (trust me, coordinate systems without trig are useless -- you'll find yourself memorizing formula's that you should be able to make yourself in a few seconds."
Definitely need to know trig before you touch Calculus.

Other than that, the Morris Kline book a person mentioned is actually good. In addition with "Essential Calculus" from Dover. I don't think you can go wrong with those two books to first learning Calculus. But before you immerse yourself into those, make sure you practically master trig and the basics.

8. Jun 29, 2008

### Alienjoey

(If you get the Morris Kline book, a PDF file of the solutions guide is available from the publishers upon request, as they say on their website, in case you aren't sure if you are on the right track: http://store.doverpublications.com/0486404536.html)

9. Jun 29, 2008

### kts123

Not really.

"No, you will "feel" it." Or "No it won't teach you the basics."? Of the dumbed down books I've read, none of them ever seem to truly address the underlining principles, akin to teaching someone Pythagorean Theorem as opposed to the laws of cosines (and then neglecting to mention how it relates to the Cartesian Coordinate system.). The Kline book I mentioned, however, really had meat and potato's (it seems people already agree with that one, so I guess I don't need to mentioned it.)

10. Jun 29, 2008

### razored

"Simple books will teach you the basics, but you will never "feel" Calculus with them."

Yeah sorry, skipped the "Simple" in front of books when I read this. You are right, you will not "feel" Calculus from simple books(I had something else in mind). Back to Kline, yes, a great book according to a buddy of mine. I actually plan to get it myself; the other dover book, Essential Calculus which I already own, is excellent for first exposure to Calculus. Essential Calculus by Dover actually has some rigor to it which I enjoyed greatly.

11. Jun 29, 2008

### janemba

I Need a Book that will teach all of calculus if you never did it before ?

12. Jun 29, 2008

### Pseudo Statistic

Try Schaum's Outline of Calculus; it starts from the Precalculus stuff and works its way up.

13. Jun 30, 2008

### janemba

thanks

14. Jun 30, 2008

### TristanH

In case the poster or anyone is considering "Calculus Demystified". AVOID this book. It is poorly written, unclear and jumps all over the place. I bought it to brush up on Calc I'd forgotten and was totally lost. I ended up buying Kline which is tremendously better.

15. Jun 30, 2008

### Quantom

I would certainly look at The Calculus Lifesaver by Adrian Banner because its a great book and he has free video lectures that go along with his book on iTunes under iTunesU.

P.S.-Don't buy calculus for dummies. I did and I regret it. It's just silly...

Last edited: Jun 30, 2008
16. Jun 30, 2008

### janemba

OH thanks

17. Jul 15, 2008

### roam

If you want something for self-study try "Calculus - The Early Transcendentals" by Howard Anton.
You may want to get "Schaum's Outline of Calculus" as well, if you want lots of worked examples and exercises.