I got an 80 on my calculus midterm. I honestly feel like a failure… I feel like I didn’t retain nearly enough just that I’m not going to remember enough of this for Cal 2 next semester. Do you know of any good supplemental books to help you learn Calculus? I’m going to buy one for winter break…
Here is a free one:
http://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-18-001-calculus-online-textbook-spring-2005/textbook/
Some books (you pick one at end or none ^^)
The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems
http://www.amazon.com/The-Humongous-Book-Calculus-Problems/dp/1592575129/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
Calculus Essentials For Dummies
http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Essentials-Dummies-Mark-Ryan/dp/0470618353
But quite frankly, there aren’t really any good Calculus books out there for students who prefer computational learning. i mean the so called good ones are those of Thomas and Stewart and both are (i believe) horrible textbooks for Calculus.
They are dull and help make students think these integration/differentiation popped outa nowhere and wallah, accept it for whatever it is!
And the ones that are actually decent like Spivak are way too advanced for the average student in college.
I’m sorry but I think (personally), your best bet is to stick to your college textbook (probably Stewart) and do massive number of problems there. There’s really no short cut around this method.
You most likely didn’t retain most info because you probably aren’t trying your best. Just sit down and solve endless number of problems and remember, youtube is a friend.
And uhmm, this might sound weird but try looking at some of the AP Calculus crash course textbooks. I think they are infinitely much better than your standard college textbooks for Calculus because it’s more straight to the point unlike Stewart in which there are 10000000000000000000000000000000000000 problems which no one in his right mind can ever possibly finish in a semester even if he/she dedicated 12 hours a day outside class.
Calc 2 was at least three times harder for me than calc 1. If you’re making an 80 now, it might drop to a 60 or so. I recommend going to tutoring, if your school offers supplemental instruction, that helps a ton. That being said, everyone is different, my friend said calc 1 was harder and that integration was easy. Don’t freak out, 80 isn’t bad, but you will need to understand what’s going on in calc 1 if you want to survive calc 2 and beyond.
Khan academy. Complete the differential calculus and integral calculus missions before you take Calc 2. They are extremely useful and have several succinct, bite sized videos, as well as an infinite problem generator, attached to every topic. You’ll probably breeze through most of the Calc 1 material, and from there you can master whatever you haven’t learned yet or are struggling with on your own time.
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/differential-calculus
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/integral-calculus
Art of Problem Solving - Calculus.
"Art of Problem Solving - Calculus.
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/store/item/calculus "
No offense but I think this is some of the worst advices I have seen for recommending a Calculus book to someone who is struggling on basic computational Calculus I.
That textbook is for mathematically talented students who are slowly preparing for Putnam Exams, Harvard-MIT Math Tournaments, etc.<ofc, there=“” are=“” seperate=“” books=“” to=“” study=“” more=“” of=“” those=“” in=“” depths=“” but…=“”></ofc,>
This textbook is literally for the 1% of students whose skill in math greatly surpasses most other students.
This textbook has such difficult questions that many times, even doing 1 problem out of just a page is a miracle for most kids. I do not think such is even a decent book for someone who struggles with just the regular Calculus.
Is this a good book? Yes. I have done Art of Problem Solving books before. Is it finish-able? Of course BUT why would anyone recommend this to non-math majors who are not extraordinarily talented in math?
Just look at the excerpts <which btw,=“” shows=“” only=“” the=“” easy=“” questions=“” and=“” examples=“”>:
“Show that if integral of f(x) dx from negative infinity to infinity converges, then the integral of f(x) dx from negative infinity to infinity is equal to integral of f(x) dx from negative a to a in which a is the limit approaching infinity. Also, show that the converse is not true…”
Is this really what an average Calculus student would be solving?
This book is a stepping stone to preparing for exams like Putnam, arguably some of the hardest mathematics exam for college students. The median grade is 0 in some years. Yes, 0 when pretty much only math majors take the exam.
Maybe I am underestimating this guy’s ability but seriously, the Art of Problem Solving Books are generally so advanced that even I cannot solve some of its problems from even Intermediate Algebra (Algebra II) without instructions.
In fact, I remember when I used to do Art of Problem Solving Books (did 3~4 of those books), I had to constantly look at solutions 24/7 and sometimes even that wasn’t enough and my motivation to finish it was horrible since the problems were just so difficult (and the textbook is massive).
Sorry if I offended you +NavalTradition , it’s just that this book I’m sure is definitely not for the op.
It’s like asking him to do Baby Rudin or Spivak or Apostol, etc. (which I listed but DID NOT recommend to op). Sure those are more theoeretical than this book but we all know those books (including yours) are overkill for simple Calculus 1 in college.
No worries.