5 comments about Div, Grad, Curl, and All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus, Fourth Edition.

1. My school uses this book to teach a math class that is mandatory to all freshman (regardless of major). Bad book to use. Not only does it not have enough problems, the examples it gives are mostly for special cases. And the reading is hard to follow.



2. Book claims it's for engineers and scientists. Don't see it.
   
   Both scientists and engineers require an understanding of vector calculus that has a strong physics component. The author states that an understanding of electrostatics is not really necessary for this book's treatment, yet he expicitly relies on the language of electrostatics throughout the text.
   
   To me, that sounds like an academic talking to an audience of mathematicians, none of whom have or care much about experience in actually using vector calculus to solve and/or describe physical problems/situations. Or else, he and his audience are in some serious denial.
   
   For scientists and engineers, in my mind, electrostatics requires examples and problems that have a basis in potential energy and other concepts of conservation. Energy = Q*V is nowhere to be found and other conservation concepts are given short shrift.
   
   Present-day, Po-Mo (post modern), overly institutional Mathematicians (and those with engineering and science degrees who admire them too much or God forbid cherish such snobs of experience-less reason) might be able to get away with being clueless in such matters, but those whom I consider real scientists and engineers can't.



3. "div, grad, curl and all that" is the quintessential book of vector calculus. No other description I can think of would do it justice.



4. The book provides a very good and concise review of vector calculus. Also helpful is the context of electricity and magnetism making it a good companion book the advanced E&M class at my school [as it is recommended for]. Also good for learning Vector Calculus on its own.



5. I picked this book up, based on the reviews that said it would explain vector calculus to "engineers". I probably read the book 3 times, but I never felt I really _undestood_ the material. A few years later, I think I do understand the material; looking at the book, many of the things I read seem obvious now. I feel this is where most of the reviewers were coming from...
   
   The book is great if you already know the material, and just need a nice, unifying refresher. It is not that great for learning it the first time, since there is very little application of the material, and for me that is what motivates me to understand something. Morse & Feshbach is much more rigorous and dense, but that is where it first "clicked" for me. Also, I think this book is supposed to be in tandem with a more standard Calculus reference. Between two books one might have a better time at figuring things out.
   
   There are a few very good figures in the book that have helped me understand some key concepts (the flowchart relating the different operators and their associated assumptions), but the lack of rigor and general long-windedness of the book could actually be considered a fault, rather than a benefit "for engineers".
   
   Also, buy the cheapest edition of this book you can find. They are all basically the same (only the problems and very minor wording change between editions). Don't think you need to get the latest edition, get a cheaper earlier edition.

5 comments about A First Course in Differential Equations.

1. the picture for this ad didn't match the cover of the book so i took a chance in buying it, because the isbn numbers matched. the book was correct and the time and condition in which it was recieved was great



2. First off, this book adequately teaches you differential equations. It's clear and concise - all except for one thing. WHERE ARE THE EXPLANATIONS!? Each section just jumps into examples without first explaining important concepts. I tried to find out exactly what a Laplace transform was, but all the book told me was that it was similar to a derivative, they both transform one function into another type of funciton. YEAH, THANKS.
   
   I know how to do everything, I just don't know exactly WHAT I'm doing.



3. I find the book very helpful. It is worth the $25 or so. I like a lot of examples.



4. I'm not one to say much so I'll keep this kind of short. It always helps to have another point of view and explanation other than those offered in the classroom, whether one struggles with this material or not. This book was definitely worth purchasing.



5. I have to say I'm shocked by some of the negative reviews here. Granted, I'm a math major, but I found this book to be relatively unintimdating and refreshingly lucid in its presentation of points. I was able to follow every single derivation that was given in the sections we covered. Not only this but due to the nature of the presentation, I was able to anticipate a result or two from one section to the next, which really inspired some confidence. :)
   
   The wide margins left plenty of room for the annotations I made, and unless you're an uber-genius who gets everything immediately, you will definitely need to make some annotations.
   
   Another excellent aspect of this book is that it serves as a natural bridge from the overly graphical, mickey-mouse presentations given in standard calculus texts to the more terse books in higher math. The graphics are sparse compared to a modern calculus text, but they are informative and maximize understanding.
   
   I think this book is indispensable in the pursuit of the "ability to read a math book" skill which many majors require.

3 comments about Brief Calculus and Its Applications (11th Edition).

1. The book explains the material in sufficient details and supports it with easy to understand examples. Also, the exercises and assignments are of appropriate level of difficulty. Overall, I think the authors have done a great job.



2. this is one of the worst math books i've ever had - maybe even the worst, and i'm an mechanical engineering major (so i've seen a fair few)! The book doesnt explain why, it gives a few brief examples to simplified elementary problems, and then leaves the subject. When you need to look up how do to a more complicated problem, there is no example or method listed to do it.



3. I was assigned this book to teach Calculus to business majors. To call it horrid would be an understatement. Important concepts are only briefly touched upon in examples (such as function composition) and takes unacceptable liberties (saying things like "it is sufficient to think of e as 2.7"). Too much time is spent on trivialities and busywork, rather than examples that would nail the concept down to the student. The book introduces the concept of the derivative before the limit - that's like learning to ride a bike before you know how to walk!
   
   I've never seen a Calc book worse than this. If I had my druthers, I'd use Stewart for my class. It's not perfect, but at least my students would understand how the limit relates to the derivative, rather than have it introduced and immediately dimissed.

5 comments about Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications.

1. I like this book and use it for teaching my students. As a teacher, you have the opportunity to select similar problems for class activity and homework assignment. Also, you can find not only simple and middle-level problems but also high-level problems to provide a good source for active students. Unfortunately, the author uses the letters "F" and "T" in the truth tables instead of much easier and perspective "0" and "1", which correspond to the real needs, e.g., in computer science. That's the most essential lack, which I've found by this time.



2. Purchased for computer science course since it was required. Great price, good book.



3. I would NOT reccoment this text for anyone that is returning to school after being away for any length of time. It is the reccomended text of the class I am currently taking, over half of the students are having difficulties with this book and are purchasing additional text to supplement the lessons.



4. I took an accelerated 6 week class on discrete math... and though I've never studied that hard (in my life) the class was very rewarding. My professor earned his PhD under Kolmogorov, and if you know that name then you'll know what I mean that it takes THAT level of a mathemetician in order to explain clearly what this text tries so hard to obfuscate.
   
   I'm a math enthusiast, so I also bought copies of Grimaldi's and Epp's Discrete Math texts, and for this class I also needed to borrow copies of number theory texts for the section on number theory, logic texts for logic, etc. It's kinda sad in the state of things that one has to go to outside sources for so many of these topics... but Rosen makes you do it.
   
   My issues on logic: They don't explicitly tell you that a function P(x,y) holds only for objects placed into the function. There is a problem in the section of nested quantifiers where the function is given as P(x,y) but then the solution uses x and y for something totally different. The book leads you to believe that P(x,y) means "property P holds for 'x' and 'y'" but with a function the property is static and the letters are dynamic. The book explains functions from the perspective that if you see P(x,y) then that property holds for x and y, and the specific problem I'm talking about will lead you astray when applying the logical construction; textbooks should be clear enough that the student doesn't have to go to the teacher on simple concepts like this
   
   My issues truly began in Chapter 3. The pseudo code they use is loosely documented and assumes the reader already knows some programming because the entire section on algorithms was greek to me until a study partner who is a programmer by living gave me a quick crash course in programming that clarified what was going on in each step. The section on Big-O notation could have been simplified if the author simply said "we need to create a function that will be bigger than what is stated, and define 'k' as the beginning value where this is true and 'C' is the total sum of the coefficients that also guarantees this." The book takes a 5-6 page approach that buries this simple concept into obtuse mathematical jargon. I can't stress enough how bad the book covers this. (Epp's text with depictions of graphs that explicitly state the difference between Big-O, Big Omega, and Big-Theta was valuable to clarify this topic.)
   
   Number theory is covered haphazardly, introducing div and mod before discussing the nature of numbers and primes. Div and mod are absolutely essential to number theory but the order of presentation serves only to confuse students. I grabbed a number theory book, "Elementary Number Theory" by David M. Burton and that text covers number theory in a much less confusing light than Rosen's text. (These books should all be in your school's library.)
   
   Another book, suggested by my Professor, was Polya's "How to Solve it." This book locks you into the kind of thinking you need to be doing to handle proofs (and other types of problems.)
   
   In short, if you're REALLY good on your mathematics... like you got > 4.0 in high school you might find my observations wrong. But if you are coming from the other direction, and are rising up to that level... this book just doesn't get you there without a TON of outside help. I suppose if nothing else, this book taught me how to use my library for supplementary materials as not a single chapter went by without a need to find things outside of the text.



5. December 2007.
   I gave 1 out of 5 stars to this book on my previous review based on the fact that many of the problems in the books asked about things never discussed. Beside that, the discussions of topics are often more confusing than clarifying readers. I often spent hours on reading and others hours on trying to catch the author's ideas. I often ended up with being crazy and depressed when it came to solve assigned problems. I was sometimes at the level of that I wish I could tear the book into pieces. I found myself in desperate situation with those irrelevant questions, so I purchased a solution book in order to help me survive. The solution covers only even-number problems, whereas my class assignments were given only on the odd ones. Thing ridiculous is, for example:
   * Question 35 (not exactly number) asks about the things the author never discussed, then you are more likely to go to question 36 which is similar to the q.35 in solution book to find idea that helps you solve q.35, all you will get may be like "by question 35, we have ..., therefore ... Done." Oh, man, what should you expect from such an "solution" ? Many of these occur throughout the book.
   Furthermore, the text is disorganized in some ways. Here is one example:
   ** In chapter 4, Rosen discusses about the recursion by giving examples. One such example is that he uses recursive approach to define a rooted tree. The point is he never says a word about what the rooted tree is at first place. It sounds like you use an unstudied object as a means for supporting your discussion on a new concept.
   This took me hours and hours to read and digest such sections and was the major reason that caused me to take the spite out on the book through giving negative review. When I finished my course, however, I had a chance to review the materials, and I realized that I was unreasonable in judging thing that way. Despite of those shortcomings, the book does accomplish its job which it is intended to, although in not a great way. I got an A- from this tough class, which covered 11 chapters in only one semester, predominantly based on my reading the text section by section and solving problems as best as possible. I decided to delete the previous review and give it a fairer view, as my acknowledging to its contributions to my relatively successful study. If you are an audience who reads but does not very much care about solving problems, the book is fine for you; otherwise, it will be a bit painful.

1 comments about Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic, AP Edition.

1. Book was in good condition, only thing is that it was shipped very late. I received the book almost after 15 days of placing my order.

3 comments about Thomas' Calculus, Early Transcendentals, Media Upgrade (11th Edition).

1. I ordered this book using Amazon Prime ever a week ago. It should have been here the next day. Now it's a week later and the book has still not shipped. I've never had a problem with Amazon Prime before but getting a calculus book a week late is totally messing me up in class. Customer service is trying to be helpful but so far, they've promised me three times this week that I'd have the book the next day but it's still not here. I guess I won't have the weekend to catch up on the work I missed all week. I learned my lesson. If you really need something - drive out to the bookstore and get it yourself.



2. I order the book a week ago and i get it after a week by using the standard shipping $3.99 for each item. The book is in a very good condition and cheap, but just the shipping takes too long, i recommond buy the text book 1 or 2 weeks before the class start just in case you will get your books ontime.



3. This book has nice pictures and is put together well. That being said, for learning calculus is is very short on examples. Even with the solutions manual, some of the steps to solve equations are poorly defined and steps are skipped. I do not recommend this book for a student who needs step-by-step examples to grasp the subject matter.

3 comments about Developmental Mathematics (7th Edition) (Bittinger Developmental Mathematics Series).

1. I used this book for several math courses at DeVry Online. I am dyscalculic and this book helped me immensely



2. The book was very helpful in helping me to finally learn Algebra. My complaint though is that the wording is too much and very confusing to understand for anyone who has a hard time with math. Get rid of the large pictures/graphs, study tips and objectives and maybe this book wouldn't be so big and heavy. The examples were what saved me because they were well defined and I wouldn't have understood what to do based on the explanations. Overall a good book.



3. The book was new and in good shape but it does not come with CD's or any other supplemental. Shipping took as long as they could. Don't expect it to come early.

5 comments about Intermediate Algebra (Martin-Gay Hardback Series).

1. This book won't let you get stuck, it explains all concepts clearly. It offers a good beginning algebra review, and gives you a thorough dose of the tougher stuff.



2. In my pre-algebra I and II classes, we used Martin-Gay's books. They were wonderful! They're easy to understand and follow with plenty of exercises. I was looking forward to using her books for Intermediate Algebra. I was extremely disappointed to find that the college switched to a different book...one that isn't helpful at all. I'm planning on using Martin-Gay's book along side our college textbook we now have. Hopefully, the lightbulb will be going on much quicker!



3. This book covers many problems but lacks descriptive solutions. I could not get a good concept of how to solve the problems because most of the solutions were broken into several sections. This book does give some of the answers but again it does lack descriptive solutions.



4. Book needs more explanations on problems and less "Study habit reminders" and other fluffy stuff that I just skip over. What student has time to read the "extra optional stuff"?
   In my humble opinion, this book doesn't explain problems well.
   It doesn't explain WHY. It assumes you know WHY problems are solved in certain ways.
   
   For example, on page 110, she throws a property at you:
   
   "If A is a positive number, then | X | < a is equivalent to -a < X < a."
   
   It would really help me understand this property if I knew WHY| X | < a is equivalent to -a < X < a.
   
   The answer book should explain more also - especially for problems that are different from the examples.
   
   I do like the idea of concept checks though.



5. I was very impressed with how fast the book arrived. It also arrived in great condition. I would definately consider doing business with this vendor again.

4 comments about Elementary Algebra: Concepts and Applications (7th Edition).

1. The problems given in this book were very easy to understand. The author shows step by step how to do the given problems and the answers are refferenced in the back. I always used how the book did the problems, not the teacher's way. I am always coming back to this book to refresh my math skills.



2. I recieved this book the fastest I've ever received any book, although seller was in my home state. She was communicative about the edition and condition of the book which I loved and the book is in truly new condition! I would buy from her again without hesitation.



3. This particular Math book has limited examples and rarely walks you through the complete set of steps necessary to solve simple or complex equations.



4. Not happy. Ordered textbook on August 1, 2008 and I still have not recieved it. Said delivery was no later than August 25th. It is now Sept 2nd. 2 weeks into school and still no math book.

5 comments about Contemporary Abstract Algebra.

1. If you are looking for a rigorous step in abstract algebra this is probably not the book you want. If you are taking a fairly elementary one semester undergrad course and will never see this subject again, it is great. The proofs are weak (compare to Hungerford - the intro NOT the grad text - or Dummit and Foote - which, admittedly is more advanced, but not that much). This subject (like topology and real analysis) tends to depend on where you are and what you want.



2. This book works great in conjunction with the book Contemporary Abstract Algebra. I'm an undergrad taking Group Theory and completely lost! But with this book, I use the answers to better understand what the question is asking. I think that's how the questions should be made in general: Give the students the answer and ask them how to get to it. Students would better understand what the question asks and the material in general. Anyway, I would recommend this book for any student using the book as a text.



3. The best intro ever, I have read many texts but this is a the most beautiful and the most fun! Trust me, buy it!



4. After high school algebra and geometry, most of the math we learn doesn't apply much to the every day world. So, when a college math book takes the time to show examples of real world applications, I appreciate it. It helps to ground the material. This is not the rigorous, concise, law-theorem-corollary-lemma-and-repeat kind of book one gets used to, but it was fun to read. I'd recommend reading this along with a traditional style algebra textbook.



5. Although this book may not be as rigorous as Hungerford, I still like this book. Actually, I prefer it over Hungerford. There are still proofs involved in the exercises. I don't understand why some reviews are bad for this book. I highly recommend it's use in an undergraduate Abstract Algebra class.