Reddit reviews Thomas' Calculus, 11th Edition

As a rising senior, I'll be attending a prestigious research program for 7 weeks to do some materials research, most likely biochemistry or biophysics.

Also, my school only goes as high as BC Calc for math. I took AB this year since BC didn't fit into my schedule, and the Assistant Superintendent was nice enough to set up a teacher to teach me Multivariable one-on-one next year, so long as I teach myself BC over the summer. Should be easy, and I might even start on Multivariable if I finish early.

Very excited! Should be a productive summer!

Edit: I'll be teaching myself from this book. It was recommended because it goes very in depth on proving various theorems that are usually just introduced without regard to why they work. I was told learning the theory behind calculus will help for when I take an Analysis class.

If you're trying to learn calculus on your own you're better off buying a used version of either of these books for cheap (or going to a library)


http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Calculus-11th-George-B/dp/0321185587

or Stewart: http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Stewarts-James-Stewart/dp/0495011606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268447623&sr=1-1

Schaums provides basic insight, and several practice problems. If you want to understand the theory, go for Stewart or Thomas.

You should spend some lovely evenings with my friend, Stewart. If you find my friend Stewart too hard on you, take some exercises from my little friend Thomas! And if you want even more fun, my friend Piskunov has some lovely exercises for you!

And ask your questions here :-)

Not really. I have no clue what "honor's algebra" is or what sort of math it deals with.

I was able to breeze through calculus 1, 2, and most of 3 without studying (most of it from this book, and most of this book http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Calculus-11th-George-B/dp/0321185587 ) Yet I still needed to study for this 200 level class.

My point being, you can't make sweeping generalizations for who should and shouldn't be in college based off of whether they need to study for a class or not. Yes, there are some people that shouldn't be there, but that has little to do with how much they study.

And even then, people that struggle on the simple stuff can often surprise you. I know one student that went from "couldn't pass basic algebra" to "top of the class in a Differential equations and Linear algebra class". All from a change in study habits and extra effort.