ESSENTIAL
CALCULUS

Author's Welcome

About the Authors

HOME

CHAPTERS

ADDITIONAL TOPICS

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES

BOOK SUPPLEMENTS

OTHER RESOURCES

INSTRUCTOR AREA

TEC

Review Algebra

Review Analytic Geo...

Review Conic Sections

Projects

Lies My Calculator...

History of Math...

Challenge Problems

Author's Welcome

Welcome to this website, which contains resources of various types. Calculus is not an easy subject, but with the help of your instructor, the textbook and its ancillaries, and the resources on this site, you are well equipped to master the subject.

You will see a number of resources. If you think your knowledge of precalculus mathematics might be weak, and particularly if you have been away from mathematics for a while, you should click on Review. There you will find a review, with examples and exercises, of the very basic rules and equations of algebra and analytic geometry that are needed for success in calculus. When I grade calculus exams, I find that the mistakes my students make are often algebra mistakes, not calculus mistakes. So the Algebra Review has warnings about common errors in algebra. Under Projects will find four kinds: Applied Projects involve applying calculus in various ways (designing a roller coaster, piloting a plane, playing baseball, choosing a seat at the movies, explaining rainbows). Laboratory Projects involve technology. Writing Projects ask you to compare present-day methods with those of the founders of calculus. Discovery Projects encourage you to discover patterns in mathematics. You will also see Lies My Calculator and Computer Told Me. Most of my students seem to believe that, when they perform a calculation with their calculator, it always provides the right answer. Here I try to correct this impression by showing certain situations in which calculator answers are unreliable. Some of you might be interested in History of Mathematics, which lists some of the better books and web sites devoted to the history of mathematics and, in particular, the history of calculus. Some of my students value such references because they humanize the subject. Also included are a number of ADDITIONAL TOPICS, which your instructor might assign, or which you might like to explore on your own. More topics will be added from time to time. ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES provide extra examples for most sections of the book. In Challenge Problems you will find a selection of problems designed to challenge both your knowledge of calculus and your creative problem solving abilities. In tackling these problems you might find it helpful to look at Principles of Problem Solving, which you can find by clicking on Additional Topics.

When you click on CHAPTERS and select a specific chapter, you’ll see the resources for that chapter. Web Links has annotated links, for particular topics, to outside resources.

Under OTHER RESOURCES you can access software for two- and three-dimensional graphing, as well as information on careers and organizations.

In addition, INSTRUCTOR AREA gives instructors access to Archived Problems. These are exercises, together with solutions, that appeared in previous editions. They can be used by the instructor as possible test questions or made available to students for additional practice.

James Stewart