Recommend me some Math Books Please

I’m looking for books with problem sets that I can work, with detailed answer keys. My calculus textbook has great problems, but if I want to check my work it only has answers for the odds, and it’s usually something like “57. sqrt2” with none of the steps listed. I’d like to know WHY I’m getting the wrong answer sometimes. :slight_smile: Basically I’m looking for problems above and beyond what’s in my calc book so I can get more practice. Preferably a book with stuff on limits, differentiation, and integration; first year calc stuff. I don’t need the “how tos” just the problems, and I’m not sure such a thing even exists. Thanks!

No recommendations, I’m just chiming in to say that I do feel your pain.

Calc was a hugely difficult subject for me, and while I cannot recommend a good text, I will advise you to stay away from the one I had.

Don’t remember the title or author, but it went 57 pages. For a semester course. That’s when I knew I was in for trouble! :eek:

Best of luck to you, though. You keep on keeping on and take advantage of any math labs your school offers. That’s the only thing that got me thru calc.

For some textbooks, there exist “student solutions manuals” or some such, which contain worked-out solutions to all the odd-numbered problems. If this is available for your book, it will probably say so on the back cover or in the introduction or somewhere like that.

This is a recent thread on calculus books.

I’ve heard good things about Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson. The original edition is about 100 years old, and the first pages look good.

Schaum’s Outlines are frequently superior to the overly heavy and error-laden hardback texts, as well as being about 15% of the price. REA Problem Solvers, while not pretty, will offer up more problems, both with full solution and basic answers, than you can take.

Stranger

Hello, fellow sufferer! I, too, am having trouble with calculus; though I’ve dropped out of the AP class, I’m still doing fairly badly in the regular class.

My teacher suggested that even though I have absolutely no intention of taking the AP, I should get the Peterson’s AP Review book. The conversation was immensely flattering. She said, “You’ll like it. He explains things like you’re in third grade.”

I don’t think that’s quite true, but the explanations given for the examples seem to be pretty clear and step-by-step.

I do have this one! It’s very interesting and straightforward, and his writing style is very amusing. Thanks for all of the suggestions!