Calculus for dummies

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1. jasodeNov 2017
   >There are a lot of pictures. [...] highly visual format,

   Thank you for your response. To clarify, I'm not an elitist that rejects cartoons and informal style. For example, I think the "Calculus for Dummies"[1] with the cartoons is a good math book.

   I'm also not really not talking about the visual "clutter" that others complain about either.

   Cartoons are fine but I prefer that the drawings/illustrations really impart knowledge or insight rather than "decorate" a book's page like wallpaper.

   For example, I looked at "Head First Networking"[2]. Using Amazon's "Look inside" feature to browse some pages:

   - page 1: the clipart of the man and woman and the thought bubbles do not reward the user with quality knowledge in relation to the space they take up

   - page 19: the clipart of the tourist with the arrows and thought bubble does not actually teach a networking concept

   My point is: just because a book has cartoons & unserious style doesn't mean it has good presentation of teaching. It might be a suboptimal book that just happened to use cartoons.

   Another way to put it: Comics can be a very powerful way to illustrate concepts but their power is underutilized in the Head First books. The cartoons are often "jokes" instead of teaching.

   >which, to many people, reads as non-serious

   Similar to cartoons, I have similar complaints about "conversational style" that many authors think helps with pedagogy but it really doesn't. (You can explain things terribly while using a conversational tone, and likewise, explain things clearly with a serious tone.) I'll save that criticism of that for another essay.

   [1] https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Dummies-Lifestyle-Mark-Ryan/...

   [2] https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Networking-Brain-Friendly-...

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2. allsunnyApr 2017
   There is an actual "Calculus for Dummies", written by Mark Ryan, it's a great book.
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3. allsunnyApr 2017
   I have an embarrassing amount of Calculus books. My dad taught the subject in a high school and community college; I suppose I have a soft spot for it. "Calculus Made Easy" is a good book though I do think there are better ones these days. Some of the lexicon has changed and there are topics covered in a modern Calculus textbook that aren't covered in the original book (that I personally think are worthwhile spending time on). The updated version with Martin Gardner does have blurbs where necessary to point it out. The Kline book is a MUCH larger read, but is what I would recommend if you want a reasonably priced Calculus book that's easy to grok. Otherwise, I think it's hard to go wrong w/ the Stewart books. Work through the problems as they do in the book, you will come away w/ what you need. Finally, if you want a whirlwind tour, Calculus for Dummies by Mark Ryan is great.

   Time spent learning Calculus is worthwhile; and if nothing else, understand the fundamental theorem. Overwhelmingly impressive.

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4. springcoilAug 2009
   I second the OCW reference. Some of the Calculus for Dummies, type books are good. Its good to remember that Calculus and Linear Algebra don't have to be that complicated. I also recommend scan the books before you buy them, I wasted far too much money at college on txtbooks that I ended up despising
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