Calculus Made Easy

100 years have passed since the publishing of this book and it still remains one of the most popular resources for learning calculus. Well, the reason for this is thus: Mr. Thompson has compiled a wonderfully simple text for a step-by-step comprehension of calculus.

His writing style is both light-hearted and insightful. He begins the book by explaining the terminology and notation used in calculus, albeit in a humorous way. He riffs on the so-called "math experts" of his time who took the most complicated approach to explaining calculus. With this brief satire he draws you in deeper and deeper into this elegant topic. He gives concrete examples and gentle motivation so that even a non-math major such as myself could become interested in the subject.

Mr. Thompson was not a mathematician but an engineer and this may be why he is able to relate the topic in such a simple yet effective way. Beginning with simple differentials, he disassembles every piece of the calculus and shows you how they work and what to do with them. You will learn about derivatives, partial fractions integration and much more. Although this is supposed to be an easy way to learn, there are still some challenging exercises in the book for your mind to chew on. Rest assured though, Thompson gives you plenty of examples and easy exercises with the more tricky ones coming in at the end.

As for Gardner's additions to the book, well I see that he has caught a lot of flak for adding 2 chapters at the beginning. However they are very short chapters and as another (very helpful) reviewer said, you should just come back to them after delving into Thompson's explanations. The reason why Gardner adds a chapter on functions and a chapter on limits is that modern calculus classes will invariably expect a full understanding of what limits and functions are. This is not a reason to shy away from the book, it is merely Gardner trying to prepare you for a modern class after you've learned Thompson's methods. He also has written some helpful footnotes throughout the book while keeping all of the original material virtually the same.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn calculus and will definitely be lending my copy to any friends who desire a respite from the chaos that is a modern math textbook.

Thompson pulls through in making some parts of the integral and differential calculus accessible and understandable. Rather than throwing limits at you, Thompson makes the problems work through some clever algebraic manipulations. It is a pretty good entry to the ideas of the calculus. It also contains problems to work out if you want. This book was written in 1910 or so originally though so it is rather old-fashioned in the terminology it uses, but that is easily ignored.

The trick to mastering calculus is solving a lot of problems, seeing by example and having great explanations. This book lacks in all of these things, though the author goes to great lengths to make it simple, there are far, far, far, far better approaches to really learning everything.

My first attempt at being introduced to calculus. For me it requires much patience . I do not have a strong background in geometry, trigonometry or algebra, though I did take courses in human th school, fifty some years ago. I do think I have some sense of calculus, but to problem solve, I would have to go back chapter by chapter, and review trig, geometry, and algebra. Will I do that???

The original book, written about 100 years ago by a Quaker was charming and old-fashioned. Then a second author came along and put a more modern spin on it. Ugh. You guys want a REALLY simple beginning book? Try Beginning Calculus For Us Countryfolk. Has the famous (or infamous) draining swimming pool problem.

Calculus can be intimidating, but this author's style overcomes student apprehension. I understand it is recommended to author's writing books on other complex subjects as an example of a successful teaching method..

This book teaches readers how to read equations and what the equations mean. However the equations and symbols in the kindle version are not very clear and often they are not legible. The clarity does not improve when zoomed. Thus I was very disappointed with this purchase. If you want to read this excellent book get the print version instead.

I agree with the consensus rating of this book. The concepts are presented in a more straightforward manner than in most math texts. However, my copy which I ordered from the store is missing pages 164-172. I'm missing the meat of the chapter regarding trigonometric functions.

This book was recommended on several CLEP-related forums, but I didn't really like it. It was pretty dense and had me lost after the first 10 pages or so. I would definitely pass on this book and jump to Calculus for Dummies or a Thinkwell course.

OK, this review is for the Kindle edition - the book itself is a classic and a must-read introduction to calculus. (five stars)

However, this and any other edition based upon the Project Gutenberg one should be strictly avoided: none of the mathematical symbols, graphs, and formulas are preserved in any useful way. The one Kindle edition that can be recommended is

http://www.the store.com/Calculus-Made-Easy-ebook/dp/B003XYEAOW/ref=tmm_kin_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1285861412&sr=1-1

That edition, the one priced at $3.00, is a scan of the original book so it is not a typical Kindle book (i.e., you can't changes font size, etc.). However, it preserves the original formulas and graphs.

By the way, it should be noted that none of the Kindle editions are the version annotated by Martin Gardner.

The Kindle edition does not have the mathematical symbols and has bad formatting. It's basically a copy of the text from Gutenberg project and nothing else. It's impossible to read. If you are going to buy it, buy the printed edition, which I assume has graphs, symbols, and original formatting.

good book. some of concepts were really helpful, eventhough i majored mechanical engineering using a lot of calculus. calculus itself is, i think, not that fun compared with math such as linear algebra.

I received the book fast enough, the book itself however, not what i would call "pleasure reading!" It is part of one of my courses for my master's degree and up to now, I have read 5 chapters, i do not think it makes calculus easy!

Martin Gardiner admired this book so much that he wrote a book which consisted of the original book, (this one) PLUS Mr. Gardiner's commentary. My point is, wherever you see anything in these reviews that refers to Mr. Gardiner IGNORE IT. He wrote not a word in THIS book. There are two related books: The original one by Silvanus Phillips Thompson (this one) and MR. GARDINER'S book, which is Mr. Thompson's book, PLUS Mr. Gardiner's comments. I gave it 4-stars because Mr. Gardiner admired it so much. He says that it's the best book ever written for the purpose of learnning Calculus.

I got this book (the version with the space shuttle on the cover) to review after taking Calc I and before Calc II, mostly for clarification and to gain a more intuitive understanding of some things I wasn't too clear on. I think it does a pretty good job explaining most concepts and is worth it for someone entering into Calculus. My problem with it is twofold-- using antiquated notations helps no one, and worse than that, there are errors. I pretty much confirmed they were errors by googling what I assume were updated version of the book in PDF form and the errors are corrected in them. They've had 100 years to find these errors in what is not that dense of a book; leaving them in is inexcusable even if this is supposed to be a "faithful reproduction of the original" or whatever BS. Also makes me question anything else I come across in it if I'm struggling on something.

Good book, but get an updated edition, assuming they really did fix the errors in them.

When choosing a math book for serious learning, I usually skip any title promising to be "easy", "fun", "painless", or "in x days" (where 1 < x <= 30), since I am a firm believer of Euclid's quote "There is no royal road to geometry".

So why did I pick up this book? Well, there are two reasons. First, Thompson is a prominent scientist and Gardner is a respected writer of popular math and science; second, many of the 5-star reviews on the store make this book too good to miss.

I finished the book (including most of the exercises) in four weeks during my spare time.

This book is rich in techniques but lack in theories. Many formulas and results are presented without proofs. I think this is precisely what Thompson wanted to achieve: heavy on how-to and light on why. For someone who is proficient in elementary math (especially algebra and trigonometry) and wants to start learning calculus, this is a decent choice as it teaches all the essential calculus skills in a well-organized sequence without being too abstract or too rigorous. After finishing this book, if one is able to automatically recall the facts and rules learned when solving problems in the book (I really mean automatic recall, not "discovery learning" or "critical/high order thinking" or any fancy constructivism which is flashy but useless and even harmful at this level), it may be a right time to study more advanced calculus such as Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach (Second Edition) (Dover Books on Mathematics) by Kline (intermediate) or Calculus, 4th edition by Spivak (demanding). For someone like me whose calculus is a bit rusty after decades of inattention and who just wants to get work done, this book can be used as a quick and comprehensive refresher.

In his preliminary chapters, Gardner tried to show that Thompson's treatment of derivative is based on the concept of limit. However, from what I read, Thompson avoided either limits or infinitesimals altogether. Instead, he simply discarded the high order of dx. In this regard he is more infinitesimal-leaning in a very crude way just like what Newton and Leibniz did. This is a sensible approach given that this book is meant to be an intuitive introduction to calculus.

There are a few typos in the book. There are also some misleading remarks. Here are some examples. In Chapter IV, it is stated that (dx)^2 means "a little bit of a little bit of x^2". (My comment: x^2 should be x.) In Chapter XIII, it is suggested that x in resulting partial fractions be replaced by a value such as 1 to check if the sum of the partial fractions is indeed the original expression. (My comment: this makes sense only when the results from the sum of the partial fractions and the original expression do not match.)

I find the jokes by Gardner in this book involving pretty girls annoying, un-mathematical and therefore superfluous.

Overall, although a book claiming to be "easy", this one is not a watered-down textbook; rather, it is a solid book that teaches basic calculus. Thompson's explanations are clear and simple, and the problems are well-crafted. The additions by Gardner (minus the jokes) are helpful in understanding Thompson's text.

I'm a software developer and have had my interests in Mathematics for quite some time now. But my knowledge about Calculus was very limited. Hence I picked up this book.

The book has real simple language and of course since this a book about an advanced concept, the reader is expected to have some background in Mathematics.

The author provides some examples practicing which gets the concepts ingrained in the readers' mind. I'll be honest, I didn't solve most of the problems (that was not my intention of reading the book either).

The book goes into some depth and talks about chain rule, product rule and the quotient rule in Differential Calculus.

It would've made it the book better if it had a chapter on Limits as well.

This book really cements ones understanding of Calculus. Many textbooks and university courses teach calculus in a rote manner. This book changes all that... after spending my whole life in the field of engineering and achieving an MSc in Engineering, and using calculus for nearly every calculation, I finally have a succinct definition of dx - "little bit of x", and d^2x means "a little bit of a little bit of x". How many textbooks or lecturers tell you this...this suddenly makes sense and calculus suddenly changes from difficult concepts to "oh I know what that now means". This book really shows the beauty and elegance behind calculus. This book also shows that those old guys at the beginning of the 20th century really knew and could explain their work. I have always been of the opinion that if you can't explain it you don't really understand it, how many calculus, maths lecturers do you know at todays universities that this phrase would apply to... my answer - loads!
If nothing else for first year uni/college students get this book it will give you one of the best grounding in calculus you will ever find.
Oh and one final comment... taking a phrase from the first page of the book..." If one monkey can do it so can other monkeys..." trully reflects the nature of this book.

I actually purchased this book AFTER I had been an optical engineer for 15 years because my other two calculus books were, how you say, not so good for re-learning (or learning in the first place, for that matter). Thompson explains everything clearly, giving you the details you need to understand the subject matter. Honestly, it's the only book you'll need as an introduction to calculus. Covers limits, derivatives, integrals, etc., and provides a lot of tricks to use to simplify various problems. Includes exercises with answers to the odd-numbered questions, which is certainly helpful to the learning process.

Highly recommended. Higher-level math was never my strong suit in college, so if you want to learn calculus, this book is likely to be your best bet.

While not a complete overview of calculus if you're taking a course in microeconomics, macroeconomics, policy analysis, policy modeling, or anything that uses calculus, consider picking this up as a supplement.

This book is not part of the educational/textbook industry and its price reflects that. But the low price should in no way overshadow the usefulness of this book. This is not your formal proof of calculus. This is a quick and dirty alternative presentation that will work with many students who balked at the cut and dry presentation in university classes.

Calculus hasn't changed much in the last 100 years so why not pick up a cheap supplement and pass your courses? The digital copy is $3 each. I recommend this book to all my students as a refresher and as a new way of seeing the material.

I have a pdf (not Kindle) version of Calculus Made Easy on my Kindle. I have read only the beginning of this witty and clear book, but Thompson has already made me a big fan with his polemic against willfully obscure explanation of calculus and his breakdown of a complex subject into simple and lucid components. You quickly understand why a "little bit of a little bit" can be treated as marginal when interpreting the meaning of a differential. The book won't turn you into a mathematician, but it will help you appreciate what calculus is about and add this subject to your liberal arts education. Not the calculus textbook you had to slog through in college.

This book won't make you a calculus expert. There are a dozen 1200 page, door stop size texts that can do that very well. However, those books tend to make the subject overly complicated and inaccessible for beginners and overly cumbersome for people that just want a review of the chain rule.

For those taking their first calculus course or self-teaching, Thompson's book takes the terror out of the subject and gets you doing problems quickly with an intuitive, boiled-down to "just the nuts and bolts" style. The whole book can be worked through in a few evenings giving one a general feel for both the differential and integral side of calculus. The subject will make a lot more sense in a college-level course having had that 10,000 foot high overview. Sorry, you'll still need the 1200 page door stop at some point if you really want to learn the subject. I needed a quick refresher after not doing any calculus for 20 years and didn't have time to work through a textbook. Thompson's book was just right for that.

Note: This review is for the hardcopy of the 2nd edition, not the Kindle version!

As an MBA with no mathematical background studying derivatives, I am not interested in mathematical properties per se, only in the application, while a mathematician would be interested in improving mathematics (via therems and proofs). Derivatives pushed me to study the mathematics of derivatives. Calculus Made Easy is especially good for people who need the "big picture". People who want to "understand" calculus to the extend as to applying the principles of calculus. The book is fantastic, but you must be mathematical eager and know some algebra. Many other books on calculus go too far. Are too broad for the reader who wants to get the basics in an concise way. This book gives you in over 300 pages the "big picture" and certainly a great foundation for further studies.

Since I had taken calculus courses before reading this book, I didn't learn any techniques or concepts that were new, and I can't say whether or not one who has never touched a calculus text will be able to learn the subject with speed. With this bias, I can still say that it is a book that is much easier to read than a textbook, and does not have millions of practice problems. So it would be great for a review of the subject, and *if* a beginner can follow it, then it would be great to learn from. At the very least, you will get the feel of calculus and what sort of problems it is intended to solve. Martin Gardner tries to clarify a few outdated things, and he writes about some additional problems related to calculus at the end of the book.
Of course, if you are looking to learn calculus in depth, this book probably will not suffice. It can't possibly cover what a first year college textbook on calculus does. But many people understandably do not want to trudge through difficult proofs and definitions, repetitive problems, and a thousand pages of text (though these are the things that sometimes pound concepts into your head).
A good read for a quick overview of calculus. Expect to solve some of the problems, if you want to learn something. And pay attention because near the end, it gets pretty difficult.