Calculus - Early Transcendentals

April 3, 2013 | Updated: January 20, 2017
Author: David Guichard, Neal Koblitz, University of Washington, H. Jerome Keisler

From the MAA review of this book: "The discussions and explanations are succinct and to the point, in a way that pleases mathematicians who don't like calculus books to go on and on." There are eleven chapters beginning with analytic geometry and ending with sequences and series. The book covers the standard material in a one variable calculus course for science and engineering. The size of the book is such that an instructor does not have to skip sections in order to fit the material into the typical course schedule. There are sufficiently many exercises at the end of each sections, but not as many as the much bigger commercial texts. Some students and instructors may want to use something like a Schaum's outline for additional problems.

Subject Areas
Sciences, Math/Statistics

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Reviews (4) Avg: 4.65 / 5

James L. Bailey

Institution:College of the RockiesTitle/Position: Chair, British Columbia Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics and Statistics

The BCcupms Core Calculus Report (revised 2013):

In 2002 the British Columbia Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics and Statistics (BCcupms) accepted the Core Calculus Report. It was reviewed in 2007 and revised in 2013. This document has a list of core topics which all first year (two semester) Science Calculus courses must include and a list of additional topics, at least four of which must be chosen. Any text which is adopted for a first year Science Calculus course must be consistent with this report.

Core topics:

1. Limits, continuity, intermediate value theorem.
• Limits are introduced in Section 2.3 where Definition 2.3 is the $\epsilon, \delta$-definition of a limit. The definition is used to show that $\lim_{x\rightarrow2}x^2=4$ (Example 2.5, page 40). Properties of limits are stated in Theorem 2.7 (page 42). One sided limits are defined, together with an example, in Section 2.3.
• Continuity is covered in Section 2.5. There is a problem with Figure 2.3(a) (the left half of the figure below is my attempt at reproducing it). The author states that a function $f$ is continuous if it is continuous at every point in its domain'' (page 53). It is claimed that Figure 2.3(a) is the graph of a discontinuous function, but it is not clear that the function is defined at the discontinuities, viz. $x=-1,0,\text{ and }2$. In fact, the function would be continuous if it were not defined at these values. Something like the right half of the figure would have made it clearer what function values were intended at the discontinuities ($x=-1$ and $x=1$).
image not available

Figure 2.3.a in the Text, Discontinuities.

There is no discussion of removable or jump discontinuities.
• The Intermediate Value Theorem is found in Section 2.5 together with an application, using a binary search to approximate a zero of a function.
2. Differentiation
• First and second derivatives with geometric and physical interpretations. The following are covered:
• The derivative of a function is introduced at the bottom of page 32, as a summary of the procedure used to find the slope of the tangent to $\sqrt{625-x^2}$ at any point. Section 2.4 introduces the main notations, $y'=f'(x)$ and $\frac{dy}{dx}$, and has a discussion of places where a function does not have a derivative (corners and cusps). The dot notation, $\dot x$, is introduced on page 128.
• Interpretations of the derivative: slope of tangent line; velocity, acceleration (velocity and acceleration are also discussed in Section 9.2 when discussing integration); rate of change in general.
• The second derivative does not have its own section. It is first introduced with the second derivative test for extrema (Section 5.3) and concavity (Section 5.4).
• Interpretations of the second derivative: concavity and acceleration.
• Mean Value Theorem The Mean Value Theorem is treated in Section 6.5. The authors first prove Rolle's Theorem and then use that to prove the Mean Value Theorem.
• Derivatives of the exponential and logarithm functions, exponential growth and decay. The derivatives of the exponential and logarithm functions are covered. On page 85 where the authors find the derivative of $\log_ax$ they show that $\log_ae=\frac{1}{\ln a}$. For no more work they could have derived the change of base formula, $\log_ax=\frac{\ln x}{\ln a}$ and then found the derivative of $\log_ax$ more economically. Exponential growth and decay is not covered, presumably because there are no differential equations.
• Derivatives of trigonometric functions and their inverses. The derivatives of $\sin x$, $\cos x$, $\tan x$, and $\sec x$ are covered; $\cot x$ and $\csc x$ are left as exercises. On pages 75--76, in giving the usual geometric argument that $\lim_{x\rightarrow0}\frac{\sin x}{x}=1,$ the authors argue that, with a little algebra, $\frac{\cos x \sin x}{2} \leq \frac{x}{2}\Rightarrow \frac{\sin x}{x}\leq \frac{1}{\cos x}.$ They do not point out that we need $0\lt x\lt\frac{\pi}{2}$ in order to keep the various quantities positive and avoid problems with the inequalities. Because the argument is essentially geometric, and this is the restriction which is implied by the diagram, they may feel that it is unnecessary to point this out. The derivatives of the inverse trigonometric functions: the derivative of $\arcsin x$ is done, but the derivatives of $\arccos x$, $\arctan x$, and $\text{arccot}\, x$ are left as exercises. The derivative of $\text{arcsec}\, x$ is not discussed.
• Differentiation rules (including chain rule, implicit differentiation) The authors start by deriving the power rule $\frac{d}{dx}x^n=nx^{n-1}$ for integer $n$ using an ad hoc argument which gives the first two terms of the Binomial Theorem (page 56); rational exponents are handled after they have covered implicit differentiation. The other rules (constant multiple, sum, product, quotient, and chain) are presented in order. Finding derivatives by implicit differentiation is covered, but finding the second derivative of an function defined implicitly is discussed only in the section on polar coordinates. Logarithmic differentiation is not covered. On page 67, where they show how to differentiate $f(x)=\frac{x^2-1}{x\sqrt{x^2+1}}$ they say: "The last operation here is division, so to get started we need to use the quotient rule first," but there is no indication why this is important. It may be better to state the implied rule, that the differentiation rules are applied in the reverse order to that which is used when doing a calculation.
• Linear approximations and Newton's Method Newton's Method is well covered but the section on Linear Approximations is a little thin. In particular, I would have liked to see problems such as "Use a linear approximation to estimate $\sqrt{10}$," and some problems which do not have a unique answer because the student has to make choices.
• Optimization --- local and absolute extrema with applications Optimization is well covered with a large number of exercises.
3. Taylor polynomials and special Taylor series $\left(\sin x,\,\cos x,\,e^x,\, \frac{1}{1-x}\right)$, plus enough sequences and series to understand the radius of convergence; in particular, the concept of series and convergence, the ratio test, and how to find the radius of convergence. These are all covered. In addition, differentiation and integration of power series are covered and there is a proof of the Lagrange form of the remainder.
4. Curve Sketching. Chapter 5 covers curve sketching. Intercepts are not discussed. Horizontal and vertical asymptotes are discussed but the authors say that slant asymptotes "are somewhat more difficult to identify and we will ignore them." Even and odd symmetry is mentioned.
5. Integration
• Definition of the definite integral and approximate integration. Both are covered. There is an example of using the limit of a Riemann sum to calculate an area, although the term Riemann sum'' is not used.
• Areas of plane regions Covered.
• Average value of a function. Covered by example although the general formula, $f_{\text{avg}}=\frac{1}{b-a}\int_a^bf(x)\,dx$ is not given.
• Fundamental Theorem of Calculus Both forms of the Fundamental Theorem are covered.
• Integration techniques: substitution (including trig substitution), parts, partial fractions. The following integration techniques are covered:
• $u$-substitutions. I have a problem with the authors' approach: the authors allow both $x$ and $u$ in the same integral. In the example on page 163 they have \begin{eqnarray*} \int x^3\sqrt{1-x^2}dx&=&\int x^3\sqrt u\frac{-2x}{-2x}dx\qquad u=1-x^2,\,du=-2x\,dx \\ &=&\int \frac{x^2}{-2}\sqrt u\frac{du}{dx}dx\\ &=&\int \frac{x^2}{-2}\sqrt u\, du\qquad x^2=1-u\\ &=&\int -\frac{1}{2}(1-u)\sqrt u\, du\\ \end{eqnarray*} The authors advise that it is necessary to "translate the given function so that it is written entirely in terms of u, with no x remaining in the expression" but I have found that students often miss this nicety.
• powers of $\sin x$ and $\cos x$ are covered in Section 8.3, using examples only; it is not explicitly stated that for $\int\sin^nx\cos^mx\,dx$ use a $u$-substitution if one of $n$, $m$ is odd and the double angle formula if both are even. Powers of $\tan x$ and $\sec x$ are not covered. The use of reduction formulae is not discussed.
• trigonometric substitutions are covered, but not systematically.
• there is a section on integration by parts and tabular integration. There are no rules of thumb to help students decide when to use integration by parts. Reduction formulae are not discussed.
• rational functions are covered, but only the easy cases: when the denominator is of the form $(ax+b)^n$, $(x-r)(x-s)$, or an irreducible quadratic $x^2+bx+c$.
• Applications of integration. Applications of integration are in Chapter 9.
• Areas between curves.
• Distance, velocity, acceleration.
• Volumes by slicing, circular laminae, cylindrical shells.
• Average value of a function.
• Work.
• Centre of mass. The formula for $x$-centroid $\overline{x}=\frac{\int_a^bxy\,dx}{\int_a^by\,dx}$ is given, but they rely on finding the inverse function to get $\overline y$ where in practice it is easier to have a second formula: $\overline y=\frac{\frac{1}{2}\int_a^by^2\,dx}{\int_a^by\,dx}$
• Kinetic energy.
• Probabliity.
• Arc length.
• Surface area.
6. Improper integrals: evaluation and convergence estimates Improper integrals including the Cauchy Principal Value are covered tangentially in Section 9.7. There are no convergence estimates.
7. Separable differential equations There are no differential equations in the text.

1. Sequences and series. For example, the following tests: integral, comparison, alternating series, root, and limit ratio. Sequences and series are covered in Chapter 11. The following tests are covered:
• divergence test ($\lim_{x\rightarrow\infty}a_n\neq0\Rightarrow \sum_{i=1}^\infty a_i$ diverges).
• the integral test, $p$-series, truncation error.
• the alternating series test, truncation error.
• the direct comparison test. The limit comparison test is missing.
• absolute, conditional convergence.
• the ratio and root tests.
2. Additional applications of integration. See the core topics for the list of applications of integration.
3. Additional differential equations topics There are no differential equations.
4. Complex numbers There are no complex numbers.
5. Continuous probability density functions Continuous probability density functions are covered in Section 9.8.
6. Polar coordinates and parametric equations (with calculus applications) Polar coordinates and parametric equations are covered in Chaper 10. The calculus applications discussed are
• polar coordinates: slopes and areas.
• parametric curves: area and arc length.
7. Additional numerical methods (eg. Simpson's Rule) and error bounds The Trapezoid Rule and Simpson's Rule together with their error bounds are covered in Section 8.6.
8. Related rates Related rates are covered in Section 6.2.
9. L'Hôpital's Rule L'Hôpital's Rule is covered in Section 4.2, but only for the indeterminate the forms $\left[\frac{0}{0}\right]$, $\left[\frac{\infty}{\infty}\right]$, and $\left[0\cdot\infty\right]$. The more difficult ones, viz $\left[\infty-\infty\right]$, $\left[0^0\right]$, $\left[\infty^0\right]$, and $\left[1^\infty\right]$, are not discussed.

Exercises:

There is an adequate selection of exercises at the end of each section. Most are routine, although the exercise sets usually end with a few which are more challenging.

The Index:

The index is quite good, although the following terms are not in it: arc length, area, average value, curve sketching, decreasing, increasing, indefinite integral, Newton's Method (the Newton, a unit of mass, is there), second derivative, substitutions, surface area, volume.

Conclusion:

• The following topics are not in the text: complex numbers, differential equations, limit comparison test, the derivative of $\text{arcsec }x$ and the integration techniques which depend on it, and logarithmic differentiation.
• The following are inadequately covered: partial fraction decomposition, integrals of powers of trigonometric functions, trigonometric substitutions, and improper integrals.

Comprehensiveness Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased

The diagrams are very good. I managed to spot six errors:

• page 53, figure 2.3.a: It is not clear that the function is defined at the discontinuities (This has been discussed under Comprehensiveness).
• Page 83: the limit $\displaystyle\left[\lim_{\Delta x\rightarrow0}\frac{a^{\Delta x}}{\Delta x}\right]$ varies directly with the value of a''. I think that varies directly'' usually means is directly proportional to.'' This is a quibbling point, and I don't know how it could have been worded better, certainly not "is a monotone increasing function of $a$."
• page 83: figure p. 4.3.'' (p.'' should not be there.)
• page 111: vertical asymptote where the derivative is zero'' (should be where the denominator is zero'').
• Page 163: $\int x^3\sqrt{1-x^2}$ should be $\int x^3\sqrt{1-x^2}\,dx$ (the $dx$'' is missing).
• Page 200, Exercise 9.3.1: $dy$'' missing at the end of the second integral which should read $\int_1^4\left(1+\sqrt y\right)^2-\left(y-1\right)^2dy$.

Content Accuracy Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement

There are no problems.

Relevance Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is written in lucid, accessible prose, and provides adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used

The style of writing is clear, informal, almost chatty. The authors keep jargon to a minimum, perhaps to a fault. For example, the term Riemann sum'' is not used even though there is an example of calculating $\int_0^x3t\,dt$ using $n$ rectangles of equal width using the left endpoint approximation and letting $n\rightarrow\infty$. The style of the book is to work from the concrete to the abstract, from the particular to the general. For example, to introduce the idea of the derivative and to motivate the idea of a limit they have a long discussion about the slope of the tangent to the semicircle $y=\sqrt{625-x^2}$ at the point $(7,24)$. First working numerically, they calculate the slope of the secant lines between $x=7$ and $x=7.1$. Next they find the general formula $\frac{\sqrt{625-(7+\Delta x)^2}-24}{\Delta x}$ and substitute $\Delta x=0.01$ to get a better approximation for the slope of the tangent. There is a link in Figure 2.1 to a \href{http://www.whitman.edu/mathematics/calculus/live/jsxgraph/secant_lines.html}{Sage worksheet} of the function $y=2x(1-x)$ in which one end of a secant line is fixed at $x=0.15$ but the other can be moved, so it is possible to watch the secant line approach the tangent line. Next they rationalize the previous expression to get $\frac{-14-\Delta x}{\sqrt{625-(7-\Delta x)^2}+24}$ and argue that as $\Delta x\rightarrow0$ the slope of the secant line approaches the slope of the tangent line, $-\frac{7}{24}$. They point out that we are able check this answer because the line from the centre of a circle is perpendicular to the tangent, so their slopes must be negative reciprocals. They continue by doing the same calculation but with 7 replaced by $x$ to get the slope at an arbitrary point on the circle and then set $x=7$ to see that the new formula gives the earlier answer. They then replace $\sqrt{625-x^2}$ by $f(x)$ get the derivative of an arbitrary function as the limit of the difference quotient. The three approaches used in this example (numerical, graphical, and algebraic) together with the rather leisurely pace help the student understand this difficult concept. Unfortunately the authors are not consistent in the use of this three-pronged attack. For example, their approaches to the product rule and the chain rule are purely algebraic; their argument is rigorous but doesn't give the student any insight into what is happening. It would have been helpful to have some visual representation of these rules, perhaps something like the following figure:

image not available

Visualizations for the Product and Chain Rules.

For the most part the authors do not state general results, but rather expect the student either to imitate the process in the examples or to invent their own formulae. This has the advantage of discouraging students from memorizing a formula and plug and chug'' in exercises.

Clarity Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework

Sometimes the authors use terminology before it is discussed.

Consistency Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course (i.e., enormous blocks of text without subheadings should be avoided). The text should not be overly self-referential, and should be easily reorganized and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader.

There are no problems

Modularity Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion

I have a few minor concerns:

• Page 54, Exercise 2.5.4: assumes that the natural logarithm $\ln x$ is known (the logarithm function, $\log x$, is defined on page 80 and the natural logartithm function, $\ln x$ on page 83).
• Page 62: the authors assume that the meaning of $\sum$ is known when they introduce the notation for a product, $\Pi_{k=1}^{n}f_k$. They do not define sigma notation until page 150.
• Page 87: Exercise 4.7.22 asks the reader to use implicit differentiation to find the derivative of $y=\log_ax$ but implicit differentiation is the topic of the next section. In fact, using implicit differentiation to find the derivative of $y=\ln x$ starts of the next section!
• Page 91: $\mathbb R$ is used without any explanation.
• Page 99: needs to be preceded by a discussion of even and odd functions. which are not defined until page 112.
• Page 102: injective is used without definition.
• Page 112, Exercise 5.5: students are asked to find intercepts even though they are not discussed in the text.

Organization Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader

The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader. I have only a minor concern: some of the figures are marked with "(AP)" which points to Sage worksheet or an interactive applet. I found that not all the Sage worksheets opened correctly with Internet Explorer (for example Figure 2.1) although they work fine in Firefox and Google Chrome.

Interface Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text contains no grammatical errors

I didn't notice any.

Grammar Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It should make use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds

The examples are similar to those found in any Calculus text.

Cultural Relevance Rating: 5 out of 5

Michael Nyenhuis

Institution:Kwantlen Polytechnic UniversityTitle/Position: Instructor

Q: The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately and provides an effective index and/or glossary

The text covers the standard topics in first-year calculus, but I think a regular student would have trouble using it. It covers the contents at a more mathematically sophisticated level than students are usually used to. For example, limits are introduced using the epsilon-delta definition. That may be appropriate in an honours section of calculus, but not for a regular section. Graphs or diagrams that would help in understanding the material are missing. For example, the text states that “rightward” is the positive x direction and upward is the positive y direction, but includes no diagram. Exercises are often skimpy, and emphasize only one view of calculus. For example, the section on the quotient rule has only 4 algebraic exercises, none of which combine other rules. I would have liked to have seen graphical questions, such as asking students to sketch the derivative of f(x) given the graph of f(x).

I think students would find the text more difficult to read than Stewart, say, and
instructors will need to supplement the exercises.

The index is good.

Comprehensiveness Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased

Content is mathematically correct, but students might prefer a less mathematically rigourous approach.

Content Accuracy Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement

Calculus does not change much, but how it is taught has changed over the years. The text seems to focus on the algebraic approach. Instructors who want to emphasize the graphical approach may not be happy with it.

Because the source TeX files are publicly available, it is, in principle, easy to edit the text. Some experience in TeX would be needed, however.

Relevance Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is written in lucid, accessible prose, and provides adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used

The text is written in fairly standard math. Definitions are provided.

Clarity Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework

It is internally consistent.

Consistency Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course (i.e., enormous blocks of text without subheadings should be avoided). The text should not be overly self-referential, and should be easily reorganized and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader.

Sections are usually fairly brief and most cover a single topic, so they could be assigned as reading. I think, however, that most students will find the text hard to understand, making assigned reading kind-of moot.

Many sections begin with a reference to previous sections, but these could be edited out.

Math texts usually assume material is covered in the same order as it is presented in the text,
and this text is no exception. However, instructors who like to cover topics “out of order” are

Modularity Rating: 3 out of 5

Q: The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion

For a mathematician, the topics are presented in a clear, logical fashion. Students may wonder what the author is getting at, but math instructors should have no difficulty in doing so.

Organization Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader

The text is a pdf document, so navigation is kind-of primitive. My one beef is that exercises are followed by an arrow leading to the answers, but no arrow follows answers leading back to the questions! Images and charts are clear.

Interface Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: The text contains no grammatical errors

I found no grammatical errors.

Grammar Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It should make use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds

I did not find the text culturally insensitive or offensive. The author works in Washington State, so some exercises and examples refer to locations in Washington.

Cultural Relevance Rating: 4 out of 5

The text strikes me as OK from a Canadian mensuration perspective. Most questions involving miles do not require a conversion to feet. Some acceleration questions are in feet. The work section has several examples in feet and pounds, which will obviously cause problems. How many Canadian students are aware that the unit of mass in the Imperial System is the slug?

I checked the internet for other open-source calculus texts. Most are either lecture notes, or multimedia (video-based), or non-traditional (emphasizing infinitessimals, for example). The only other complete, standard text was a scan (sometimes of low image quality) of Strang’s 1991 Calculus text. It is dated (there's a reference to "A Thousand Points of Light") and cannot be edited. I think Guichard’s book may be a good choice for an honours calculus class, but I would hesitate recommending it for any other. However, it is also the only candidate. If an open-source text must be chosen, I think Guichard’s text is the only choice.

Sam Pimentel

Institution:Trinity Western UniversityTitle/Position: Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences

Q: The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately and provides an effective index and/or glossary

The textbook covers all the topics necessary for a Calculus 1 course. The entire textbook, chapters 1-11, cover material for a Calculus 2 course, with the exception that the current copy received for review doesn’t include a section/chapter on first-order separable differential equations. (A chapter on differential equations is made mention of in the small print on the inside front cover, but does not appear in the contents).

Comprehensiveness Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased

No major inaccuracies were discovered.

Content Accuracy Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement

Updated versions of the textbook are made available on the website. The TeX files used to generate the textbook are freely available as well, thus allowing users to update and edit the text themselves, if required. Some familiarity with LaTeX is required, in this regard, simply downloading the TeX files and using LaTeX to generate a pdf textbook won’t work without some tinkering with the various options on offer.

Relevance Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is written in lucid, accessible prose, and provides adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used

A conversational writing style makes the text very readable and the presentation of material has a natural flow.

Clarity Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework

No major issues found.

Consistency Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course (i.e., enormous blocks of text without subheadings should be avoided). The text should not be overly self-referential, and should be easily reorganized and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader.

Section and subsection labeling are used well. Definitions, Theorems, Examples, and Exercises are helpfully numbered.

Modularity Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion

The textbook has a sensible ordering of chapters and sections that, for the most part, follows the usual structure of other introductory calculus textbooks. Organization of the material that is perhaps slightly unusual includes introducing the derivative before introducing continuity, leaving limits at infinity until later (Section 4.10), introducing integration by parts and integration of rational functions using partial fractions before any applications of integration. The partition between a Calculus 1 and a Calculus 2 course is often such that some integral applications are required as part of the Calculus 1 syllabus, but that integration by parts and integration using partial fractions is not encountered until Calculus 2. Again, having the tex files allows for rearranging and omitting certain material as required for particular course offerings.

Organization Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader

Some figures contain so-called “AP” links to interactive applets, these were broken in the copy under review. This is only relevant for the pdf of the textbook.

Interface Rating: 4 out of 5

Q: The text contains no grammatical errors

U.S. spelling is used throughout e.g. center rather than centre. This could be quickly and easily changed, if desired, by running a Canadian English spell check through the textbooks .tex files.

Grammar Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It should make use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds

By the natural of the textbook in question issues of cultural relevance are limited. However, Math examples involving cultural references are U.S. focused e.g. U.S. geographical locations, baseball, U.S. income tax data, etc. Imperial (rather than metric) measurement units are frequently used e.g. feet, miles, pounds etc.

Cultural Relevance Rating: 3 out of 5

The text is straightforward in appearance, e.g. no sidebars, boxed material, or special highlighting. No special attention is made, therefore, on highlighting key material and core ideas. On the other hand, students can have free reign of the highlighter pen and annotate the text to their hearts content without any fear of reducing the resale prize on the second-hand textbook market! The text is also free of the little historical vignettes or anecdotes that are often found in the major Calculus textbooks. The material is too the point and keeps the book to a reasonable length. There are less figures and diagrams than is standard in the major textbooks. More graphs (and in some cases coloured lines on existing graphs) may improve explanations for students. Calculus students may find themselves wanting more worked examples, although presumably these would be provided in class lectures. On a similar note, the question sets are small, instructors may find themselves needing to set problems outside of those provided. This would also be important to avoid too much repetition with multiple offerings of the course year in, year out. Students themselves may like to try further exercises than the textbook currently supplies. A supplementary worked examples and problem set may need to be provided in addition to the textbook.

Bruce Aubertin

Institution:Langara CollegeTitle/Position: Instructor

Q: The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately and provides an effective index and/or glossary

The text reviewed here is a version (May 2013) of the single variable portion (chapters 1 -11; 318 pages) of the full text, Calculus – Early Transcendentals by Guichard et al, which includes both single and multivariable calculus and can be found at: http://www.whitman.edu/mathematics/multivariable/

The single variable edition is a complete course presented in a traditional sequence, except that differential equations do not appear at all until chapter 17 of the multivariable text. Separable DEs, mandatory in the BC curriculum, are treated in 17.1, so adopters/adapters of the text may wish to have this section appended or inserted as an additional section in Chapter 9, Applications of Integration.

Diagrams in the text are relatively few and far between, though are used effectively when present. The book does favour algebraic/analytical reasoning working from definitions over graphical arguments, and limits (including one-sided limits) receive the full epsilon-delta treatment. But there are instances/acknowledgement of graphical reasoning in the text! To illustrate, the Squeeze Theorem presented in 4.3 is followed by the comment, “This theorem can be proved using the official definition of limit. We won’t prove it here, but point out that it is easy to understand and believe graphically.” There follows immediately the classic example of (x^2)sin(pi/x) as x approaches 0, complete with a diagram that illustrates the theorem perfectly.
Another example appears in 4.7, where the derivative of ln(x) is derived graphically using the fact that the derivative of exp(x) is itself. I liked to see this very much! This reviewer never waits for implicit differentiation, as most texts do, before demonstrating that if dy/dx exists at (a, b) and is not zero, then dx/dy also exists at this point, and equals 1/(dy/dx). (If I am running twice as fast as you at a certain instant, then at this instant you are running half as fast as me!) The graphical derivation in the text is then followed by:

“We have discussed this from the point of view of the graphs, which is easy to understand but is not normally considered a rigorous proof—it is too easy to be led astray by pictures that seem reasonable but that miss some hard point. It is possible to do this derivation without resorting to pictures, and indeed we will see an alternate approach soon.”

Left and right continuity are not mentioned in the text (unusual), and nor are one-sided derivatives (usual). But these are not seen as omissions; instructors with any text will want occasionally to amplify or draw diagrams, and expand/extend concepts. For example, a question such as (one of my favourites) “What is the slope of the graph of cos(sqrt(x)) at x=0?” would not be at all out of place in this book. Conversely, of course, an instructor using this text may wish not to follow the rigorous epsilon-delta approach to limits. For this reviewer, in first year, I take the limit laws to be all intuitively obvious, and no use at all on all of the “interesting” limits (what I call the indeterminate forms!)

The exercises at the end of each section are well chosen and numerous enough in applications such as optimization and related rates where they need to be. They range from routine practice to more challenging questions, and most have short answers in the back of the book. These could be supplemented using the open-source online homework system WeBWorK http://webwork.maa.org/ (This reviewer has currently only had experience with the commercial systems WebAssign and MathXL).

Overall, I like this book a lot. It is very well written and friendly to read, without the usual clutter of sidebars, footnotes and appendices! It moves quickly through all the important definitions and theorems of calculus with many examples and also a certain amount of just-in-time precalculus (for example, with the exponential and logarithm functions). There is appropriate rigour throughout, though the book is not at all in the style of Rudin’s classic graduate text, “Principles of Mathematical Analysis!” It is much more conversational, and suited even for self-study. Maybe slightly too much so, as sometimes definitions or important formulas appear in the flow of the discourse and are not highlighted for easy visual reference for the student. Most are numbered, but the conversion formulas for switching from polar to rectangular coordinates in 10.1 would be a case in point.

Comprehensiveness Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased

The text appears to be remarkably free of errors of any kind, and any question of bias in the sense intended here not applicable. I did notice somewhere a period missing at the end of a sentence. Also, in the remark in parentheses at the end of Example 1.4 in section 1.3, which reads: “(You might think about whether we could allow 0 or (minimum of a and b) to be in the domain. They make a certain physical sense, …),” the term “(minimum of a and b)” should be replaced with “min(a, b)/2.” I did also notice, in the discussion immediately following Theorem 11.17 in section 11.2, that the constant c was not taken to be nonzero explicitly as it should have been.

Of course there are natural biases expected in terms of style, rigour, choice of definitions etc., and these are mostly very agreeable to this reviewer. For example, it is refreshing to see the function 1/x declared continuous, following the definition of continuity given in section 2.5 - Adjectives for Functions. Though I may continue to say that there is an infinite discontinuity at x=0. It does go slightly against the grain however, to allow as the book does, the endpoints of an interval [a, b] to be local extrema.

I like the book’s treatment in 6.5 of the Mean Value Theorem (MVT), or Motor Vehicle Theorem as I call it, and let me contrast it with that given in Stewart’s Calculus - Concepts and Contexts, another admirable text with which this reviewer is familiar and has taught from for some time. Both texts state the theorem and illustrate its usefulness and interpretation with respect to motion. The text under review fully proves it from Rolle’s Theorem, which in turn is proved from the (unproved) Extreme Value Theorem. There is no diagram in this section, and the function g(x) = f(x)-m(x-a)-f(a) used to derive the MVT from Rolle’s Theorem appears pulled out of a hat and is not explained. By contrast, Stewart does not mention Rolle’s Theorem or prove the MVT, but does provide diagrams making it seem plausible. Annoyingly, however, the hypothesis in Stewart’s MVT is that f(x) is differentiable on the closed interval [a, b], making it not applicable, for example, to the square root function on the interval [0, A].

Content Accuracy Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement

The content in a mainstream calculus text such as this is relatively timeless. The book is regularly being updated by the author, taking into account feedback from users of the text. I will leave it to other reviewers more familiar with manipulating source code to comment on the ease of editing the text.

Relevance Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is written in lucid, accessible prose, and provides adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used

The writing of this text is exemplary.

Clarity Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework

The text uses standard mathematical terminology throughout.

Consistency Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course (i.e., enormous blocks of text without subheadings should be avoided). The text should not be overly self-referential, and should be easily reorganized and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader.

The text is structured in a standard and traditional sequence for a calculus text.

Modularity Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion

The organization and flow of this text is exemplary.

Organization Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader

There are no significant interface issues with this text. The internal hyperlinks in the pdf version of the text are a very nice feature, taking you instantly to a referenced diagram, definition, or solution of an exercise. However, it would be nice if there was a way to return to the exact previous position in the text with a single click, after viewing the reference, rather than having to navigate back using the bookmarked pages or sections of the text. I did find that clicking on the external links labeled (AP) that are attached to many of the diagrams resulted only in “page not found.” I don’t know why, but it can’t be serious.

Interface Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text contains no grammatical errors

I did not notice any grammatical errors in the text.

Grammar Rating: 5 out of 5

Q: The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It should make use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds

The text is culturally neutral.

Cultural Relevance Rating: 5 out of 5