Ron Larson (1) (1941–)

It's funny: My wife uses this book more than I do. Of course, she uses it as a heavy object for keeping papers flat...

This book is a general overview of Calculus (you know, that class you dreaded taking in college, and probably forgot everything you ever learned from it, anyway, as you never encountered enough real-world problems to leverage what you learned there; I mean, seriously! How many salt tanks have you had to calculate equilibrium for? Realistically?).

If you have one of the few show more jobs in the world that actually require Calculus skills (i.e.: calculus professor, rocket scientist, new age priest, and camel jockey), then you'll probably enjoy a book like this to keep your calculus skills sharp. Also, if you're one of those weird people (like me) who likes to read whatever he can get his hands on, even if it's a shipping registry or bottle of toothpaste, then this book may also be good for you.

Otherwise, you'll probably get lost among all those transcendental functions. show less

In my opinion, the best Calculus text of the last few decades. Extremely intuitive and clear-cut, with excellent, logical examples. Excellent for either education or reference. I have the multi-variate edition, covering everything from basic definitions through vector algebra, and wished my successive textbooks were this helpful.

This is a solid and fairly clear introduction to the use of statistical methods. The clarity of it depends on how much you enjoy mathematics, but there really isn't much in the way of advanced math to be found. Some of the formulae look complex, but are simple 'plug and chug' tabular methods that a decent graphing calculator does internally without bothering you, the user. I should also note that the formulae are more or less just pulled out of a hat, I have an older textbook that delves show more deep into the mechanics of how the formulae are derived and that is where the more advanced math of Statistics truly is. Still a very clear basic college textbook. show less

Uses applications in science and engineering to demonstrate the concepts learned. The text has little biographies of people that did mathematical things strewn throughout and multiple worked examples. The book uses lots of computer-generated graphics and other things. I would say it is an excellent reference as well since it has tables of derivatives and integrals in the book along with answers to odd-numbered exercises.

This particular text covers topics ranging from beginning limits to show more vector calculus. So it obviously builds on what was learned. Just in case you never had it, it also covers some Precalculus in the very beginning of the book. The text also contains little projects that people can do to demonstrate the ideas taught.

I got this book for College so I can't remember the last time I cracked it open. In any case, I guess it is good that I didn't get rid of it. The only real problem is that the book seems to be a bit 'busy' if you will forgive the expression. With all of the little images and biographies and pictures it sometimes gets distracting. show less