3 comments about Advanced Calculus Demystified.

1. It's been a long time since I'd learned Calculus in H.S. and a bit in College -- when I needed a quick review, to do a couple of problems that cropped up at work, I stumbled across this book, and boy am I glad of that. Everything is explained clearly -- really clearly -- and sometimes with a touch of humor thrown in that makes the book so much more enjoyable to read.
   
   It was organized so well that I could immediately zoom in on just what I needed, and once I got to the right chapter, the info was well organized, well written, enabling me to review, get my answers, and apply it to the things I needed.
   
   Skimming other Calculus books in the bookstore, they were either too didactic, doing endless proofs (which I didn't really need...) or they were written so poorly that they didn't really help much. (Best way to compare books -- choose one topic, read about it in several books, see which book explains it best... this one did!) It stays true to the title "Demystified".
   
   If you're a bit beyond the intro level, such as in college, taking a math course or a few, this would be a great way to review before an exam, or a great way to get "another viewpoint" that might help you figure out what you're not getting from your dry, dessicated textbook. You should know that this book covers more advanced material than the very simple stuff, but frankly, it handles it so well that I didn't need to review the simple stuff to understand what I needed to. Imagine that -- a math book so clear that you can pretty much pick it up anywhere and just start reading! If you're a student taking "calculus I" in high school, much of this book will be beyond what you want, but you'll be able to understand it.
   
   What's more, I'd recommend it to anyone who is in a field who might stumble across a Calculus idea or problem, such as computer geeks (such as myself), or engineering professionals, etc. Pick it up & if you can't read it now, put it on the shelf -- you'll be glad it's there when the need arises. An excellent book, that "hits" just the right level of review and learning so you can really understand it, and use it.



2. This book deserves 10 stars. It is simply the clearest and easiest to understand math book on a difficult topic that I've ever seen. Out of the over 1300 things that I have reviewed on Amazon, I would give this book the highest rating. I completely agree with Darkman in his earlier review, that the book is so good that you can just pick up anywhere and understand what is being said. I've seen a lot of math books over the years that purported to be what this one is, and were not, most of them not by any stretch of the imagination. As he says, most just cover proofs, which isn't that useful for most people, or try to teach the applied practical side but just make it too difficult.
   
   The problem is that most people who are good at math, good enough to get a Ph.D. and write a book like this, are so good at it that they just don't understand the average college student who doesn't. For some amazing reason, Bachman does, and if all math teachers were like him, math would actually be, if not a popular subject, at least far more than it is now. If you are considering this book, just pick it up and start reading anywhere and you'll see what we mean. It's truly an amazing feat of writing and math teaching and the book is worth 10 times the actual purchase price, in my opinion, in all the time it will save you and all the hassle you'll avoid trying to understand difficult concepts.
   
   Not only that, but the way Bachman presents the subject, despite the overall technical level, he is still able to show you the beauty and elegance of the language of advanced calculus despite that.
   
   Finally, the worked problems are well chosen and very clearly solved and illustrated. I just can't say enough good about this book. I've looked for a math book this clear for advanced calculus and other advanced math topics for almost 35 years. I'm so excited by this book that words don't really do justice, and at my age there's not a whole lot that I get really excited about anymore. They should inaugurate a new Nobel Prize for teaching excellence and give the first one to Bachman so he can retire from day to day college teaching and continue to write books like this.



3. When you're studying Advanced Calculus on your own you need three things (apart from work and the right mindset, of course:)
   -A good intuition about the nuts and bolts of the problems.
   -Many, many exercises.
   -A source for formalism and other theorems that are important.
   
   David Bachman's book is amazing in that it is the first book i know that can give you the first point and a bit of the second. But! Do not expect to learn Adv. Calculus using this book alone.
   
   Firstly there simply are not enough exercises. Secondly, it has some important omissions (there is nothing about the Implicit Function and Envelope Theorems, which are essential in Differential Calculus).
   
   But if you arm yourself with this wonderful little book (They DO say it's a companion for more advanced texts in the cover), with a good source of solved problems and any regular Calculus textbook and work them over you should be in good shape.

5 comments about A New Kind of Science.

1. Not that bad. The Revolutionary theory is missing. But... excellent reading for the non-scientist (like me).



2. "Many" (well most of what I've read) of the other reviews here (there are HUNDREDS right now, and actually, many of the reviews here are incredibly good, but I don't think I'm going to read them all...) criticize the hell out of Wolfram. And they are right to do so... yup, a lot of his material has been around in one form or another before...BUT I think you have to give him something for the courage to put it all together and say this is another way of doing, of thinking about science, and honestly, it really is.
   
   If I thought too hard about everything in the book then I suppose I could criticize him too. But I like what I've learned so far in the book.
   
   I hope this little review gives someone else the courage to spend the $32 (Amazon discount price at the time of writing) and get this book and learn about a different way at looking at the world around us.



3. This book makes you thing, of matters that you thought that are not explainable. This is accomplished by illustrating simple rules, that could actually makde our world!
   
   It's not "a New Kind of Science". It's rather "Science of the World"



4. So much has been written, there is little left to add, nevertheless... Wolfram set out to find the underlying set of axioms that define all "Type 4" sets of axioms, the sets that give rise to complexity. Finding that defining set of axioms, if that's even possible, would have been an extraordinary accomplishment, but he could not crack the code. The fact that he was unable to make any progress at all is perhaps revealing about the nature of such sets of axioms. All he was left to do was to publish his research notes. He may have credited himself with more than he accomplished, but he has compiled an extraordinary compendium of notes.



5. I received A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram in July 2002. It sits on a shelf in a place of honor. Occasionally, I take it down and open it as one would an expensive Bible. Someday, I'll really study it. Until then I love its feel, its heft, its marvelous and painstaking creation. It promises much--almost like the Bible promising eternal life. I bought it again as a gift for a young man just graduating from the University of Memphis in Computer Science. He's already deep into its pages. I envy him in a way. Perhaps he'll explain it to me. Not that I need any explanation. With faith I already know it is worthy of eternal life on my top shelf.

5 comments about An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one].

1. Many unprinted pages (114, 115, 118, 119,122, 123,126,127,130,131, 134,135, 138, 139, 142, 143) that neither Princeton Paperbacks (not sold directly by them) or Amazon (more that 30 days) would stand behind.
   
   This is a book that gave me additional prspestives to i.



2. I thought this book would touch on the philosophical implications of the imaginary number. I was quite surprised to see the calculus level equations on pretty much every page of the book. If you are an accomplished math genius and want to know about the history of imaginary numbers, then this might be a great book. However, if you are a mere mortal and looking for an interesting read about math, this one might be a bit much.



3. A good readable review of i. Begins with a discussion of Cardan(o)'s solution of the cubic equation with its unexpected side effects, and ends with contour integration.



4. A fantastic resource for anyone who has an inclination to learn math with history of how it really developed. I truly felt sorry that I didn't have this book when I was learning Trignometry in high school -- would have used De Moivre's theorem to derive the interesting identities without having to resort to painful coordinate geometry proofs.
   
   ps: this book is not bedtime reading



5. Teaching mathematics is often an uphill battle against the forces of abstraction and dullness. This delightful book is a perfect antidote, weaving as it does the history, applications and actual mathematics surrounding the concept of "imaginary" and "complex" numbers. But don't get the wrong expectation -- it's a real math book, with equations, proofs, etc, varying in level from high-school algebra and geometry to college calculus and physics.
   
   I myself bought it in a search for material to motivate a bright 11-year-old that I am tutoring. I introduced imaginary and complex numbers to him, but all of the actual applications seemed far out of his reach. So now when I mention imaginary numbers he screws up his face and asks for more boolean algebra instead. But with this book, I now have a number of examples and historical anecdotes to motivate and fascinate him, particularly geometric interpretations and applications.
   
   Here, for example, is one extremely elementary application that I did not know about. Prove: the product of two sums of squares is itself the sum of two squares in two different ways. Symbolically, given any integers a, b, c, d, there are integers p, q, r, s with...
   
   (a^2 + b^2)(c^2 + d^2) = p^2 + q^2 = r^2 + s^2
   
   This was demonstrated by mathematicians a long time ago, but not particularly easily. Using complex numbers, it's almost trivial to see, however, certainly within reach of a student of Algebra I. (There's an even simpler version of the proof that Nahin presents, but it's a bit messy to write without properly typeset mathematics.) This also makes the important point that complex numbers are very useful to help understand non-complex mathematical phenomena, a point Nahin makes throughout the book.
   
   This also illustrates that this is a real math book, not simply a popularization piece ~about~ mathematics and mathematicians. It's really too bad that reviewers who expected the latter are downgrading their ratings of the book, because if you understand and accept what it is trying to be, it's a gem!
   
   Much of this material is, of course, available by searching the internet. But it's not easy to find, and of highly variable quality. So Nahin's book is a real service to teachers and students at all levels.

5 comments about Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, and Algebraic.

1. This text has simple examples that are only moderately easy to follow. The problems, on the other hand, are extremely difficult. There is no bridge between the two. The index is not particularly good. The explanations are obscure. The text spends too much time on theory that I suppose is interesting to mathematicians, but just gets in the way of learning about derivatives and integrals and their uses. I truly detest this book and find it a misery to deal with. My child's teacher was sick for the first half of the year, so I was thrust into the breach. I graduated from college magna cum laude with a Phi Beta Kappa key, I took Calculus and made an A (many years ago), I am a CPA with an MBA. My difficulties were not because I am dumb and not because I wasn't trying.



2. I am currently a senior in High School, and I am in Advanced Placement Calculus. The textbook we use is the next edition of this text, but the textbooks are pratically identical, so i decided to comment here. This text is designed to be an introductary text. Introductary texts teach you concepts that you should be able to understand how to use. A lot of these concepts are too advanced to be explained in an introductary course, so they are omitted from the text. Learning math is just like learning anything else. You must first learn how to do it, and then you must learn why you do it. This text tells you what to do with minimal explations because long explainations make readers lose attention and the why would be gone anyway. One other thing that this book does is it gives previews into the next section. Obviously, concepts build upon one another, so some of the problems in the exercises are designed to try and make you think outside the box and get a glimpse into the next section.



3. I am currently a senior in high school working my way through this book for my AB Calculus class. All I can say is that this is the crappiest textbook I've ever come across in my life, and I mean it. The concepts are presented poorly with very few examples. The examples that they do give are hard to follow and often times will not help you with the problems you will soon encounter. As life would have it, my math teacher is of no help either, which only makes things worse. If you know you will have this textbook for Calc beforehand, heed my warnings and learn from a different book if you can. Save yourself from this nightmare that will haunt you for the rest of your life.



4. Calculus is far from difficult. It's different, but not difficult. In an attempt to be terse, this book loses all of the things essential to getting a student to understand calculus: good examples, explanations, and a logical progression of difficulty. There are many ways to explain a mathematical concept, but you're lucky if you get a single coherent one out of this book. It needs to be supplemented so much -- to the point of it being just plain useless. I'm all for lighter, briefer textbooks, but not when brevity impedes on quality. It's sufficient for getting a student to pass the AP exam, in some cases, but that's not the goal. The goal is for students to understand calculus and, more importantly, better understand mathematics as a whole.



5. I used this textbook as a high school student taking AP Calculus. I remember having trouble understanding some of the mathematical statements, and naturally I blamed the book. Also, back then, I was only interested in on what would be on the AP exam, and this book certainly has a lot of "fluff," if you are judging it by that standard.
   
   Now looking at this book years later, having taken college math classes where it's sink or swim -- and you sink if you don't read the textbook -- I appreciate this book a lot more. It is fairly rigorous but never too much so, and there are loads of practice problems. I regret not sitting down in high school and reading this book cover to cover. I felt that I never really understood calculus, even after doing well on the AP Calculus exam -- I'm sure other students who have gotten their AP Calculus scores know what I mean.
   
   I cannot fault this book for my inability to comprehend its mathematical language. High schoolers can reasonably be expected to understand mathematical statements, and my math teachers never forced me to develop the skill of reading a math textbook, instead feeding me the formulas I needed to know on a silver spoon. But although I love this book now for its clarity and its approach, I can see how this book can frustrate a high schooler who is seeing power series for the first time. Some of the examples are crudely explained, and the book occasionally gets too caught up in the whole graphing nonsense. I dislike the ridiculous number of "try graphing this to see..." investigations in the book, and I wish they would replace it with more examples and clarifications.
   
   I am also puzzled by the sequencing of the material in this book. I think that the authors take a great approach to Chapters 1-5, but it all becomes a jumble after that. Chapter 6 is titled "Differential Equations and Mathematical Modeling," but although they explain slope fields, they don't seem to mention separation of variables anywhere. Other sections in that chapter include "Integration by Substitution" and "Integration by Parts". What do those have to do with differential equations -- or mathematical modeling, for that matter? They sound like basic techniques of integration to me, and it would have been nice if they had grouped them with other techniques of integration, like partial fractions and trig substitution, which are tucked away in Chapter 8. Speaking of Chapter 8, titled "L'Hopital's Rule, Improper Integrals, and Partial Fractions" -- what exactly is the unifying element here?
   
   I am nitpicking, and really, I do quite like this book. Unlike other recent calculus textbooks, it doesn't try to dumb down the math (I especially like the appendix on epsilons and deltas!), and the exposition is quite clear. However, this book would be much better if it ditched the ridiculous "reform" contrivances and stuck to the math.

3 comments about Calculus: Early Transcendental Functions.

1. As an instructor at a small college, I am called on to teach nearly every course in the math and computer science departments. Therefore, my reasons for examining this book were to determine the suitability as a text for our calculus courses. In that regard, I found it suitable for a two-course sequence in beginning calculus.
   Compared to nearly all other texts, it is quite short, on the order of 500 pages. Therefore, it does not contain enough material for a three-course sequence. The coverage is basic differentiation and integration with a final section that is an introduction to differential equations. Exercises with solutions to odd-numbered ones are included. The following is a list of positive features of this book:
   
   *) Very little time is spent in the review of precalculus topics. In my opinion, using a lot of ink to review mathematical basics is a waste of ink. If the students don't have it by now, they shouldn't be in the course.
   *) Very little time is spent in "using technology" sections. Some books try to do the Mathematica, Maple and Excel triad, showing how to solve problems using all three. While I recognize the value of technology, I also know that learning the concepts of calculus is challenging enough without throwing in the technology. If you know the calculus concepts, learning the technology is easy, but if you don't know the calculus, then the technology is of little value.
   *) Proofs of selected theorems are included in an appendix. This allows instructors to pick and choose which proofs to cover and which to leave out. One criticism I have leveled against other calculus books is that proofs of the major concepts are not included. My approach is that while not all proofs should be examined, there are times when a proof should be presented and thoroughly dissected. Even though many of the calculus students will not go on in math, calculus is still a math course and math is based on proofs.
   *) Several worked examples are included when every new concept is introduced.
   
   At this point, I consider this the best calculus text available if all you are interested in is a book for a two-course sequence. However, if you would prefer one text for the standard three-course sequence, then you will have to look elsewhere.



2. This book is no where near a book which intends to teach calculus. It is rather like when your grandma' talks about her past. "Oh good times.."
   
   Do not expect to be shown any rigorous proofs or see any logical strength in this book what so ever. What it will do, however, is just show you a few pictures and formulas. No detailed explanations, No sense of enthusiasm for the beauty of the mathematical content, No sense of style or logical path for you to follow. I do guarantee that not only you won't enjoy this book, you will hate it for its indifference.
   
   If you have some better book (an example would be calculus by James Stewart) you will clearly see the illness in this book's logic. Topics are introduced as though they were by a tired old man who hates calculus. This is integral, this is what it looks like. Now example and here is the formula for you to use, plug in these numbers. It is rather disgusting what they have done to mathematics.
   
   I do not recommend this weak book on such strong subject. Please do research for yourself and find a better book with more quality. Like I said above, better book (in my personal opinion) is the fifth edition of Calculus by James Stewart. I'm sure there are even better books than that, too. So don't waste your time with this one.



3. I ordered the book a late Tuesday night and I received it Friday afternoon with expediated services. The exchange of the book and money went extremely well. Book Kube was very helpful and nice in sending me an e-mail about when the book was shipped, by what company and about when he thought it would arrive. Overall, I would work with Bookkube again and purchase items from Amazon.com!!!!!!

5 comments about Partial Differential Equations for Scientists and Engineers (Dover Books on Advanced Mathematics).

1. The book is simple, interesting to read, just like a story book or a news article, and can be used as an introductory textbook for PDEs.



2. If you want to teach yourself PDE's, then this is certainly a great, and affordable book to get started with. As other reviewers have said, the book could certainly go into more depth, but there is no one book that can completely teach you one subject. My advice would definitely be to use this book to get started, and to use other books to go further.



3. Good book to gain an understanding of the basics involved in PDE's. Could use more worked through examples as applied to practical problems.



4. This is a series of lectures that introduce partial differential equations for engineers and scientists. It is written clearly and carefully, using approachable language to build a conceptual understanding of the phsyical phenomena that inspire the mathematical approach.
   
   This probably won't satisfy people interested in applied mathematics, but engineers should find this a sensible approach. I'd suggest that this could be read alongside an advanced mathematics textbook and will aid the understanding, application and solving of many vital applied physics problems.



5. I teach BVPs at the undergraduate level and I use this text for classroom examples. It presents classical methods for solution of BVPs. Mathematics is provided at the application level so this not a reference for someone interested in the mathematics of PDEs. It does provide references (dated) that I have found useful for additional material. Most are inexpensive so you can add them to your library. Will DOVER consent to placing all of its texts in KINDLE format?

5 comments about Ordinary Differential Equations.

1. This book is rigorous but understandable, it truly does provide an exhaustive survey of ODE.



2. In an Intro to ODE course I took, we used the Edwards and Penny book merely as a reference for exercises and concepts. Most of the instruction was done primarily from the instructor's own books and from what he felt was more useful for the class.
   
   Trying to read through the E.&P. book was painful at best, and useless at its worst, so this text became invaluable to say the least. This book does the job where the E.&P. book did not, to top it off it has plenty of exercises and detailed solutions for sample problems. This text covers about 70% of that course. It falls short of 5 stars because although the material in this book is presented with detail and clarity, its approach to an ODE course is outdated. Modern topics such as Fourier series, exponential matrices, systems of 4 or more equations linear nonlinear or dynamic, are things that are brought up in a typical ODE course taught today which are not mentioned in the book(I assume this was considered too difficult to solve by hand in the age when math software for the freshman was nonexistent).



3. I certainly enjoy reading this book.
   An excellent applied mathematics text book for engineers and scientists.



4. I feel compelled to write a review even though many others have already written in praise of this book. The ultimate accolade: If only I had this book when I was an undergrad taking differential equations, man I would have been the star student! In a misguided quest for "purity", I chose the math department's ODE course, and at the risk of offending mathematicians (for whom I have the utmost respect), all the talk about Wronskians was about the only thing I remembered of the course, only to find later that they are almost completely useless (at least in physics, am I wrong?). Heavenly thanks for Tenenbaum and Pollard, now decades later, I finally understand what differential equations is all about.
   
   The only small criticism is the number-labelling (sp?) of almost everything makes for some clutter in the text. Otherwise, as many have said, this book is VERY WELL ORGANIZED and super for self-study. I have purchased two copies, one for my library and one for my 10-year old daughter whom I hope will find it as attractive and interesting as I did.
   
   Finally, once again thanks to Dover for re-pubishing at reasonable cost so many great books, among which is this particularly outstanding volume. Maybe some sort of prize or recognition should be given to Dover for their contribution to the spread of knowledge.



5. This is an old, elementary textbook on ordinary differential equations presented in the format of lessons. It is clearly written with the student in mind and has a lot of elementary applications. Students who are studying this subject for the first time will have no difficulty with the book.

5 comments about Calculus Made Easy.

1. Martin Gardner's updates feel like big brother. Silvanus P. Thompson, though a poly-math, was indeed an electrical engineer. The same cannot be said about Gardner.
   
   Even in Thompson's last edition (3rd), he good-naturedly taunted and teased mathematicians. If an update really was necessary, it should have been done by an EE like Paul Nahin (wrote the 1988 IEEE Oliver Heaviside biography and An Imaginary Tale among others), not by a Mathematician like Martin Gardner.



2. This book casually fills in the blanks between knowing what calculus looks like and why it is that it actually works. The authors make it comfortable to get into understanding the calculus without one intimidating and lifeless mechanism after another. This would not be a good book to learn calculus from, but it is truly the best complement to a standard calculus textbook.



3. Syvanus Thompson wrote numerous books on physics and electromagnetism, math, and engineering topics during his lifetime, but he's most remembered for this great little primer on calculus. Now refurbished by the redoubtable Martin Gardner, who was in his eighties when this was published, if I remember right, it has even more appeal than before. I was most familiar with Gardner from his 25 year stint as mathematical games editor at Scientific American, and for his classic book, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, one of the great classics of science writing.
   
   I've seen dozens of books that purport to teach calculus and math more painlessly, and most fall far short of their intended goal. But this is one that hits the mark. It's much clearer and more concise than the usual textbook treatments, and after this, you could consult those books for more information. But if you just want the basic idea without too much trouble and hassle, this book is the best I've seen. It ranks with Lacelot Hogben's Mathematics for the Million as one of the great teaching books on math or science of the past century.
   
   My test for this book was to look ahead at the integration section, which is much harder to teach than differentiation, but the author does equally well here. The worked examples are well chosen and proceed step by step. Occasionally, there was a simplfication step that I had to go over several times due to my own rustiness, but overall, this is the best primer on the subject I've seen.
   
   Sometimes the wording is a little quaint, but that just makes it more endearing, which isn't an easy feat for your typical intimidating math book.
   
   By the way, if you're looking for a good book on Advanced Calculus after this one, Advanced Calculus Demystified by David Bachman is the best book I've seen for easily explaining this difficult subject.



4. This book is a classic. Richard Feinmann, the Nobel prize-winning physicist said that he first learned calculus from this book. The book is hard-covered but a little on the small side. Still, it has three new chapters added to better explain functions, limits, and differentials. Many regard this as the BEST first calculus book ever made. Incidentally, I found a marvelous SECOND-best book at Amazon to go with it. Titled:"Teach Yourself Calculus" by P. Abbott and Hugh Neil. For those who need calculus, these works should be sold as bookends.



5. Martin Gardner is a busybody who has removed much of the charm from a great work of populist mathematics. Read the earlier editions before Mr. Gardner got hold of it.
   
   What is the point of rendering "first form boys" into "high school students"?, and many other things. Does he think we are too too stupid to appreciate that terminology was different 100 years ago in Britain?
   
   The three stars are for Mr Gardner, S. P Thompson would have got more. This has been one of my favorite works since I was introduced to it by a classmate in honors calculus at Harvard in 1960.

5 comments about Schaum's Outline of Calculus (Fourth Edition).

1. not that great, if you have a good text, you'll notice that the examples are pretty much the same



2. In order to take an advanced statistics course (since I have been out of college awhile) I have to take a calculus test. They gave me a sample of 60 questions from prior years and recomended a text that cost $180!!!
   
   Well for 1/15 of the price of the expensive text, I can get about 55 out of 60 questions answered through this one. The ones that are not covered in this book pertain to complex integrations - I'll buy the Schaum's Advanced Calc text and get my answers and still have tons of money left over.
   
   *** Another thing is that the first few chapters are an excellent review of pre-calc, something I did not think I would need but it turns out to be more useful than I thought. ****
   
   The covering of some topics, like LaHopital's rule is better than most texts.
   
   I have not encountered typos yet - when I have that that I did - once I plunge into it more - turns out he is right and I was mistaken.
   
   ****Having numberous worked out problems and problems with at least the solutions to check yourself is GREAT FOR SELF STUDY ****



3. This book does provide coverage of all major material in traditional calculus,however the manner in which the material is presented is similar to that of a condensed textbook, which is neither entertaining nor completely clear. If you want a quick study guide then this is the book for you,provided you understand most information you read in a textbook. All in all, this book is alright, but I wouldn't depend solely on it.



4. I bought this book to supplement my class textbook when I was having trouble in Calculus I. I chose this book over the many other supplements available because I knew I could carry forward into Calculus II and Multivariable Calculus.
   As mentioned in many other reviews, this book provides plenty of practice problems, so if you're having an issue in one particular area in class or in the class's textbook, this is a good place to go to really thoroughly understand it. They provide a decent number of examples and solutions. Within each chapter are explanations of the lesson, followed by example problems with step-by-step solutions, and finally "Supplementary Problems" for you to solve on your own (though there are no answers in the back for you to check your work). It's also got some really good lists of trig formulas, geometric formulas, common integrals, and common derivitives.
   The only thing I dislike about the book is that the explanations are rather poor compared to a textbook, but it's hardly surprising seeing as how this is an outline and that it covers topics from the beginning of Calc I all the way through differential equations of first and second order in under 600 pages.
   I would totally recommend this book for the student looking to supplement a confusing textbook, or looking to brush up on concepts that have gotten a little rusty.



5. This book is great for when you're beginning Calculus, but it doesn't give intense hard problems for it. Great study guide to review the basics but isn't the hardcore stuff.

5 comments about The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition.

1. Everybody should read a book like "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" and I do not mean the professionals in the field but really everybody. Tufte really opens your mind and makes you aware of the possibly malevolent or just misleading representations of data we are faced with every day on magazines, newspapers, TV and the web.



2. This is Tufte's best book in my opinion, maybe because this was his first book I bought. I use this book weekly. I learned many good lessons from Tufte.



3. I own all of Edward Tufte's books, and regularly order his booklets for my MBA students. The reason is simple: to make good decisions, and to help others make good decisions, one must convey data as information and not simply as numbers, words, or even pictures. Business periodicals regularly violate the admonitions we learned in our introductory statistics courses, including failing to use zero as the bottom of any scale (these periodicals don't use zero in order to exaggerate changes). The reason that intelligent people convey data inappropriately is either to deliberately distort it, or because they've failed to read Tufte's books.
   
   Once you've purchased this first book by Tufte, you will never look at charts or other graphical displays without a jaundiced eye. You will also will begin to be more honest in how you convey information to others. You will make better decisions, and you will raise the standard for other communicators and decision makers. Life and death decisions do get made on the basis of data, and not just in the sciences and medicine. Buy this book and you will have a very tough time putting it down.
   
   Aneil Mishra
   [...]



4. Mr. Tufte's book is like nothing I ever read before. At first I was put off by his uber self-confidence, but as I read the book further, I realized that the self-confidence was not out of place.
   In an entertaining way, with splendid examples and splendid anti-examples, this book gets to the core of presenting honest and dense data and eliminating all pretense. Wait 'til you grasp the concept of "Small Multiples" and just as importantly, when not to use a graph.
   Before I was finished the book, I revamped a couple of my charts and upgraded one to showing multiple variables across multiple years using "Small Multiples".



5. Nutshell review - This is an excellent book on chart design and the effective presentation of information. Beautifully illustrated with in-depth insight and research.