An actual STUDENT's perspective... Let me begin by saying that I took the calculus series as a self study course and did not have the benefit of a professor who taught the material, THEN used the book for assignment and reference purposes only. Most of the reviews so far seem to be written by professors who can't remember a time when they didn't know calculus, or students who know the material but are looking for a refresher. It may be a beautiful book if you fit into this category and know the material, but if you're trying to learn it the first time around, you're going to need to invest in an entire arsenal of other books to explain what is going on in this one. As a required text for the calculus course, I ended up shelling out a painful 160 big ones ($) for the text and solutions manual. The examples are overly simplistic and do not relate well to the bulk of the (even numbered) assigned problems where the student is left to his/her own luck in "discovering" the process of doing calculus. The difference in difficulty level between the odd and even problems is often staggering. Since the even problems do not have answers, they usually end up as the bulk of the assignment you are asked to turn in. If all you saw were the odd numbered problems, this would APPEAR to be a decent book. But there is little comparison or explanation for many of the even numbered exercises. The solutions manual, again, is overly simplistic, assuming that a student only needs to see something done once, rather than repeated over several sub chapters. The important fine details are often left quite obscure when they should be drilled in. A mathematician might enjoy the challenge of discovery with this book, but to me, as an engineer, math is ONLY a means to an end. I understand it's importance, but I take no joy in it. If you have a wonderful professor, you'll be fine. If you have some ogre who just shows up to drink some coffee, or you're attempting to instruct yourself, you're better off with something like "Calculus with Analytic Geometry" by Robert Ellis and Denny Gulick. Calculus is difficult to learn on your own, but it's a tolerable task with the Ellis/Gulick texts. I have a nice place on my bookshelf for those. I could not return the Anton set to the University since they decided to change books. I was initially very upset, but was soon quite happy to see that it made wonderful (though expensive) kindling as I burned off multiple brush piles across my property. I just couldn't bring myself to use it at the outhouse... A pine cone used the wrong direction would be less irritating.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
