Reviews (13)

Why mix calculus with second grade fairy tales????
Someone at Barron's fell for the concept that inserting a childish fairy tale into a calculus book was a good idea.It's not!Not for students of ANY age.It makes the book horribly painful to wade through, and divides the reader's attention, just when focus is needed most.Maybe if some precocious six-year-old needs a calculus book this will do, but I'm doubtful.Don't buy this or the analogous Barron's trigonometry book which suffers from the same problem. But DO buy the Barron's Statistics The Easy Way, which I gave 5 stars to.It has none of the senseless crud, and except for some typos and errata, is one of the best layman's probability book out there.The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calculus is pretty good, maintaining a relaxed pace but avoiding fluff.

Great introduction to a somewhat daunting subject
After my freshmen year of college, I decided to switch majors from English to Biology.Since my Biology major required that I take two basic Calculus classes, I was a little afraid of what I was getting into.I high school I never considered myself very good at math.I admit that I never tried too hard at the subject; I just did as much work to get by, and didn't really worry about understanding the concepts much.I never even got up to Calculus in high school.I did actually learned quite a lot about mathematics from a college algebra course, but the course was somewhat difficult for me, and it was just algebra!

I pick Calculus the Easy Way up in the summer after my freshmen year in order to get some practice of a subject that I knew nothing about.At first I was suprized that a math book was written in the frame work of a fantasy novel, but eventually the idea grew on me.It was interesting that it was possible to "intergrate" a story into lessons in Calculus.The characters and story lines were fun and the explanations about the fundamentals of Calculus were pretty easy to understand, although I have to admit that it would have helped if they had been more straightforward at times.The problems at the end of the chapters helped me quite a bit, but I did agree with other reviewers who believe there could have been more of them.

Overall, I think that Calculus the easy is a good introduction for those unfamilar with calculus.It may not have all of the topics disscussed in more advanced calculus classes, but it has all of the core material and does provide introductions to differential equations and partial differentiation, so it does cover a broad range.Of course, it is just a learning aid because there is no substitute for an actual textbook and high school or college course.Plus, tt only costs about 10% of what a text book would, so I believe that it is well worth the money.The book certainly helped me.When I actually took Calculus, I had already preview almost all of the course topics, and I did really well (I got an A+)!

Reviews (7)

Love This Book
I absolutely love this book. They should teach regular classes using this book.

Get this book if you're taking AP Calculus
I purchased this book nine months before the test date but I did not study the book until three days before the test date.
Three days before the date, I did the AB practice test. It took me about 3-4 hours, and I got about half wrong. Two days before, I went over all the problems I missed and I copied down the solutions in red pen on the margin. The day before the test, I did another set of practice test. This time, I got about 12 wrong, and by this time I was really familiar with the test format and concepts I should know.

The multiple choice part of the actual test wasn't very hard. But the essay part was REALLY HARD. But I managed to write something down on every problem. Looking back, I think that it is my actual Calc class that helped me to do the essay part. (I only used the practice part of the book...)

I ended up with a 5, and considering I didn't know about 80% percent of Calculus, I think this book really helped me on getting my score.

Reviews (26)

This is the best
I recall seeing this book in my living room when I was seven or eight. I'd pull it off the shelf, open to chapter one, look at the word "limit" and feel my mind go blank.

Well, six years later, I took AP Calculus AB and I made a five on the test. Many factors went in to that. This is one of them.

This book feels very comfortable to read. The margins are very wide and there is a good space between the examples and the text.

Professors Finney and Thomas wrote so clearly. Precise and concise. Whenever I didn't understand what was going on in my AP class, this helped to clarify it better.

There are ample problems for you to practice and apply what you've learned.

It's a shame that this isn't really sold anymore. This is the best. If you can get a copy of this, keep it. So good.

A classic issue among the giants!
Thomas is a timeless reference text . His information is concise , precise and above all delightful for read and study .
Do not wait anymore . This is a winner!

A manditory read for Science Majors
Use this book along with CDs on intermediate algebra Calc I and Calc II from www.thinkwell.com. as an excellent way to start your college studies.

I especially liked the depth he went into with conic sections. I for one had not had that much prior use for conic sections. Newton did. He invented calculus in order to answer specific questions and that involved conics. I like that the writer goes beyond using some of Newtons conclusions and goes into more depth. If you dont like depth, then you can read the first first half of the book and stop there (as is done by most nonscience majors). I have seen other calculus books and specifically bought this once because I dont like just memorizing formulas. I wanted to know more about why this subject was invented in the first place.

Reviews (10)

good for refresh. but CURRENT ACUTAL GRE is MUCH harder
I reviewed this book more than 3 times before the exam.
After that, I felt somewhat confident about the exam.
but actual exam I took today(4/2, 2005) showed that
the real exam is much much harder than this well -writen
practice book. Some advanced topic, topology,real anaylsis,
abstract algrebra is way way hard. You better review or study with actual textbook.
DON'T prepare for the exam with ONLY THIS BOOK.

There is another BETTER!
IF YOU WANT REAL SAMPLES, try Author Bramson, Morris.
Title Mathematics : subject test (advanced) / by Morris Bramson.
Publ/date New York : Arco Pub., c1983.
THis is the most comprehensive collection of samples of GRE MATH SUBJECT TESTS that I've found to be extremely useful, most approximate to the real tests! You will see! Just wonder why they are not publishing it anymore!

BUT IF YOU ARE AIMING FOR THE GRE GENERAL MATH, TRY Mathematics: Graduate Record Examination Series (Gre) (Graduate Record Examination Series, Gre-12)
by Jack Rudman
ISBN: 0837352126

I STUDIED OTHER BOOKS LIKE THE PRINCETON REVIEW BEFORE THIS ONE, 690 FOR THE FIRST TEST. AFTER DOING THE VERY REAL SAMPLE TESTS, I TOOK THE GRE AGAIN THIS MONTH NOV. AND GOT 790. I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR THOSE WHO ARE PREPARING FOR THE GRE MATH TEST!

Good, but not enough.
It a good book. It covers almost all topics from GRE Subject Test. But it has a lot of missprints and mistakes. So, you have to be very carefull while reading it.

The level of the real GRE Subject Test is very close to the level of the test in this book. And the tests published by ETS are much easier then the actual test.

Reviews (53)

Great book, very insightful
I'm shocked at the number of negative reviews of this book. I think it's a great book. Linear algebra is an incredibly important subject, for example in my field of electrical engineering. Every time I need to refresh my understanding of a concept, I turn back to this book (I have the edition from 1976). I had Strang as a lecturer at MIT in the late 1990s, and he is a great teacher, which I think is reflected in his book. I truly enjoy reading this book -- practical, conversational and enjoyable to read, helpful insights, as well as Strang's opinions on the usefulness and practicality of various results. I would describe the book as an advanced introductory linear algebra book, if that makes sense. It's definitely not graduate level, but unless you're pretty sharp, it might be a tough first book from which to learn linear algebra. Maybe that's why there are some negative reviews of this book here. I recommend it very highly, especially for those who already have some knowledge of linear algebra. In fact, the reason I came to this page in the first place is to buy a second copy of the book, so I can have one in my office and one at home... there aren't very many books I would say that about...

First "...and its Applications" Book I Met True to the Title
Firstly, this book is true to its title...

It motivates the subject matter clearly and presents instances of why a certain type of problem is important (Why do we care about Ax=b, Ax=[lambda]x, ...)
It motivates the use of certain algorithms (Why do we use Gaussian Elimination, why pivot, why do the SVD, ...)

Also, as a basic text in Linear Algebra, which is THE introductory subject to applied mathematics, it serves a a primer for various areas in applied math: optimization, numerical solution of PDEs, "curve fitting" =), etc.....

Reviews (11)

A must buy study guide for AP physics B
This book is extremely useful for studying the AP Physics B test~ I am not really sure about C, but I used this book and I got a 5 on the B test. Although some ppl prefer Barron and say Princton Review is too easy, but a lot of stuff in the "hardcore" barron book are not even on the AP test. So don't waste time trying to understand all the materials taught in Barron
Buy this book~ it gives you I guess, 90% of the review you need for the test.. the other 10% comes from hte homeworks from your textbook..

excellent review
I used this book to prepare for the AP Physics B test two months ago (and got a 5), and I have to say that this book is marvelous. The B and C topics are clearly divided, the layout is very good, the review chapters explain concepts extremely clearly and comprehensively, and there are many illustrative examples. Exercises after each chapter are slightly harder than the real test (especially the free response questions), so it's really good preparation. The explanations are good too. The only weak point is that it does not have enough practice tests, only one for each test (B and C), but then you can get practice tests everywhere. Not mentioning the AP test, the review part also most definitely helped me understand a lot of physics concepts much better and clear up confusion. I strongly recommend this book.

Reviews (17)

Raises your self-esteem...until you get your test results
Very easy to read, simple explanations, many exercises with a wide range of variables. Honestly, if you're taking AP Chem you should be able to do every problem in this book. While the book is good as a study aid, I felt it was pretty useless when it came to preparing me for the test which is VERY difficult.

Overall, the formulas are highlighted and easy to find, the exercise problems are creative but not too challenging. Good for the course but not the test.

Very good practice tests, but unhelpful summaries
Princeton Review's prep books are usually concise in their summaries, and this book was no exception. The summaries were not only short, but they missed out some of the important topics. Many sections merely consisted of a couple of equations and brief explanations. In short, the review sections were not very thorough.

However, I rate this book highly because of the excellent quality of practice tests and section review questions. Their questions, especially the free-response questions, cover the important concepts in a thorough manner and give good practice for the actual AP exam. Also the multiple choice questions were very helpful, unlike the Barron's prep book that had way too narrow and specific questions. Having taken the AP test a couple of weeks ago, I musyhave to say that the Princeton Review's questions came the closest to the actual AP questions.

So buy this book to practice solving questions, but don't rely on it to provide you with a good summary.

Reviews (30)

Dime store teaching philosophy aimed at an unknown audience.
Who is this book for???It appears to be written for children ages 6 to 9. The text revolves around fictitious characters and banal, time-wasting plots, as if the full concentration of the target reader could only be garnered by wrapping the science into a bed time fable.But what 9-year-old would wade through hundreds of pages to self teach elementary trigonometry, physics and calculus on the way to understanding wave analysis?Perhaps an adult is supposed to read out loud to a child looking at the pictures.I tried it with my 9-year-old daughter and she was bored stiff.The idea of blending pseudo-motivational fiction with science is dead.Barron's tried it with some of its "The Easy Way" remedial math texts, and ended up with junk that everyone hates.But this book is worse.For example, it tries to explain the concept of imaginary numbers in a ludicrous section in which we are to accept the emotional whims of not-so-bright cartoon-like characters as the rationale behind it all.To put it in a nutshell, 2nd grade teaching techniques are used for 10th grade (and up thorough college) material.Oddly, the text is peppered with elementary sentences in various foreign languages, presumably in case you want to simultaneously learn to spell "but no!" in French.

Excellent book on fourier transform
This book has done an excellent job on explaining fourier transformation. Although I believe I have clear understanding on fourier transform, this book takes me to a new journey and let me look at this transform from another perspective. Well done!

However, the reason I can not give this book five star is that the book contains many redundant and irrelavant dialogues which distract your attention from time to time. To speed up your reading, you have to filter it out.

In addition, this book is over size and make it difficult for bed-time reading.

Reviews (19)

The best Hello, Kitty quantum mechanics primer around...
Found this in a Barnes & Noble aisle while I was looking for something else and bought it on a whim.Haven't been able to put it down since, even though it does read like Hello, Kitty and the cast of Speed Racer teaching Heisenberg and Schrodinger to 9 year olds (with clapping cartoon bunnies and hippos). After 12 years of reading beautifully written no-math overviews like Dancing Wu-Li Masters, I feel like I'm just now getting to see the actual insights, instead of hearing about them from the smart people who understand them.

All in all, I'd say it's like a fat chick or a moped-- great ride, as long as no one sees you.Bring on the bunnies and hippos.

What a Good Book!!
This is completely a great adventure in Quantum Mechanics not just for the intrepid students of TCL but for me. I started reading this book knowing anything about the theme and once I started reading just couldn?t stop. The style they use to write is very natural and easy to understand, you don?t need to be a teacher to read this. I?ve read before "Who is Fourier?" other book of TCL and when I found this book I decided to read it thinking would be as interesting as Fourier, but I was wrong, this is better.
I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYBODY EVEN IF YOU DON?T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PHYSICS. I learned that Quantum Mechanics or any other topic don?t have to be diffcult to understand, the secret is the way you approach to it. I?m eagerly waiting for another adventure to come. It?s a book you?ll enjoy from the begining to the end.

Excellent Pedagogic Book
I do not think that this book deserves a negative review despite the silly humor or childish cartoons.This is neither a comic book nor is intended to be, but just in the process of learning of qunatum mechanics things such as these help to avoid the intimidation of reader and keep him sort of hanging around into learning this stuff. This is not meant for experts who may already have patterned a mind set on this subject.This is for a beginning reader who has some background in liberal arts physics and the like and who wishes to know what is really meant by quantum mechanics and why.Experts who might read this may find that the "holes" in their understanding is filled by reading the book--a fact that may make them depressed of the idea that they may have thought that they have understood quantum mechanics prior to reading this book.

This book is simply unpretentious, historically structured and focuses on clarity as much as possible while trying to derive all steps in mathematical development--an important style of presentation necessary to enable a reader to stick to the book rather than a masterful book that author may likely to intimidate a reader while demonstrating his prowess in mathematics--I see this too common in books on quantum mechanics. Advanced QM books are often seem to be written to sort of "impress" members of the subject community that how the author has laboriously done a book masterfully or how deeply he has mastered the subject--This book is quite different from this style--It is quite readable, understandable and makes you to appreciate what teaching really is. I do not think there is any other quantum mechanics book that is as simple as this one and easy to understand in one reading, with some calculus background.This type of teaching sytle, from the roots and in a historical context is rarely employed today--I cannot think of any quantum mechanics book that builds every element of the concept from the roots like it is done in this book. When I look at text books, it is all to common to see concepts and facts presented as if they were "invented" in one fly but not developed as an evolutionary development where very bright people have contributed along the way.Although it may not be possible to present material in a historical context in every subject, this book does it admirably well in the important field of quantum mechanics--the characters including Wien, Max Planck, Bohr, Sommerfield, Born Heisenberg and Schrodinger are all part of this drama and their roles and contributions are well illustrated in cartoons, which I thought was nice.Besides, I do not think that this is entirely written by students--I think it has been greatly assisted by someone who has worked with Heisenberg (It is remarked somewhere in the text albeit indirectly).

I thought the matrix mechanics, the way it is done in this book and in showing its correspondence to Schrodinger's equation is simply awesome !

I am Professor in an engineering department in a major university and I was thrilled to find that this book has employed approches that I have been using in my own classes--teaching style and methodololgy is an wonderful art--and it needs, first, I think, a sort of fanatic attitude toward simplicity and approach based on reverence to the subject--the reader may be blessed to discover some of it when you read this book.Hopefully you may discover the ultimate teacher!

Richard Feynmann had once reportedly said to his collegue about his lectures in CalTech to freshmen, ".....I couldn't do it (a particular concept) well...not this way...I thought I can make a freshman understand this concept...I could not do it....that means I do not understand myself this concept very well...."The utter honesty of Feynmann is remarkable.Surely Feynmann would have passed a fair assessment of this book as this tries to capture some of his style in his famnous three-volume book on Feymann Lectures of Physics.

Reviews (70)

Overall, a well written book, good for a first exposure
Pros:
1. Griffiths has a knack for clearly elucidating each concept, and strikes a good balance between verbiosity and tersness.This makes the book an easy read.
2. There are plenty of excercises rangeing from easy to relatively difficult in each section.
3. The book covers a lot of ground, and is good as a first exposure to some upper level concepts (statistal mech., solid state phys, systems identical particles).
4. He spends some time covering the philisophical implications of the subject, which is really important.

Cons:
1. The first couple of chapters let you get comfortable with the Schroedinger formulation in 1D, but I feel like he focuses a little too much on calculations (of expectation values, uncertainties, etc...)This amounts to a lot of integration, without a whole lot of insight.(However he makes up for this in Chapter 3 when he introduces the formalism)
2. The book's good for a first (undergraduate) introduction to QM, but it doesn't go in depth on a lot of the topics it covers.It does a pretty good job on perturbation theory, but kind of skimps on Angular Momentum, symmetries, etc...Also it doesn't do anything with the path integral formulation.
3. The relatively low level of rigor means that this isn't a good upper level book.

Conclusion: Good introductory book, but you'll need more eventually.

Very Confuse
It's very confuse book. The author don't give a good introduction that is very fundamental to teach an undergraduated student. The Mathematical formalism it's almost nothing, when a student in this level still needs a strong basis in that point.This book can maybebe a good introduction to an advanced course (only a introduction), for the students that just need to remind something that they already have learned. I recommend for a initiate undergraduated student the book of Shankar.

Reviews (12)

Don't you dare buy this book!
This is by far the worst workbook I have ever encountered.I would give this piece of crapp "negative infinity stars" just to express my anger, if it were possible.I have spent a month and a half of my summer studying for trig using this book which ended up as a waste of effort and, most importantly, time.The summer is the only time where can I boost my brain and get ahead of everybody, and even sometimes become smarter than the teachers (hee!hee!).
The thing that annoys me the most was the blasted organization of this book.The stupid fairy tale was the entire gist than learning trig.Each chapter was focused on a dilemma faced by the king and his servants, and hardly anything about trig.It took me 3-4 days just to interpreteach chapter due to these: the lack of examples, the lack of practice following the lesson before the new stuffs are taught (I call it "try it"), the tone is for a 8 year old (hey, wow! a 8 year is learning trig), and learning the materials can be a toil since the informations are, rather than stated directly like most workbooks, implied in the story, meaning you will waste time rereading the stupidstory again and again trying to comprehend it.Another thing, you have to understand the story in order to actually learn trig in T.E.W (who said that!).
Mr. Douglas A. Downing has written a pain in the head.Why does he have to teach us trig by the usage of a gay fairy tale.He could have taken an easier turn by just teaching trig directly to us instead of deriving ways to make the story relevant to trig, then we are more into the story (a reason why I didn't purchase Calculus the Easy Way).You have to give him credit for being creative but all his works just turned out to be B.S.Maybe he was on crack.One thing is for certain, I will never purchase anything with the name Douglas A. Downing on it.

Trigonometry the easy way
This book was not that helpful to me.I have had trigonometry before and purchased this book as a refresher.There are very few examples throughout the text, which makes it very difficult to solve the exercises at the end of each chapter.