<p>Hi there!</p>
<p>In your opinion, what is the best self-teaching pre-calc/calc textbook (or method if it's not from a textbook)? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>-stef1a</p>
<p>I saw a really nice looking Barron’s self-teaching guide at Barnes and Noble. It’s called E-Z Precalculus. I use a textbook because I’m finishing up an online class; it’s Precalculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic (7th Edition) by Franklin Demana, Bert K. Waits, Gregory D. Foley, and Daniel Kennedy. I do not recommend the textbook but the review book looked great.</p>
<p>Eh, I used Blitzer in school for precalc and it was okay. I’m not sure if McDougal Littell produced a precalc textbook in the same series as Geometry for Enjoyment and Challenge - if so, it would be a good choice. However, all the new Hold McDougal math texts are terrible. I heard that Larson and friends (described below) also wrote a precalc book… perhaps that would be worth a look?</p>
<p>For introductory calc, I like the text by Larson/Hostetler/Edwards. It is not terribly mathematically rigorous, but this may be a good thing when you are first covering the material and the proofs are very clear. This is a common choice in schools and will prepare you well for the AP examinations. Buy a used copy of the earliest edition you can find - this book has not improved with age.</p>
<p>There are also some excellent free calculus texts available online:
[Free</a> Online Course Materials | Textbook | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-18-001-calculus-online-textbook-spring-2005/textbook/]Free”>Textbook | Calculus Online Textbook | Supplemental Resources | MIT OpenCourseWare)
[Elementary</a> Calculus](<a href=“http://www.math.wisc.edu/~keisler/calc.html]Elementary”>Elementary Calculus)</p>
<p>^Yes, Larson and friends wrote a precalculus book. My school uses it and for me, I was able self-study the subject finely before taking the class.</p>
<p>Follow noimagination’s textbook advice for calculus. Same textbook I used to understand calculus.</p>
<p>Sullivan’s 8th edition for Precal</p>
<p>We use Larson’s Precalculus with Limits 4th edition.</p>