12/29/2023 0 Comments Larson calculus textbook pdfWell, actually a good deal more than I cover! I would go lightly on the conic sections material and several of the sections on physics applications (e.g. The first 6 chapters (of 7) cover what I currently cover in a Multivariable Calculus course. Reviewed by Paul Meyer Reimer, Professor of Physics, Goshen College on 7/15/19 Those two professions may not overlap, so I would recommend someone actually use this in teaching and detail the minor and major issues so they can be fixed in later versions. I think this book would benefit from a thorough and complete read-through by a copy editor who is also teaching the course. I would like to see more gender balance, or completely gender neutral examples. On the contrary, there are three uses of the word 'she' in the text, one use of 'woman', one use of 'man' and 27 uses of the word 'he' (32 in total, minus 5 that are in reference to the authors and donors/supporters). For example, one of their examples mentions a company producing golf balls, not a person at the company producing golf balls. Really, for those that I read, the examples seem fairly neutral, as far as race/ethnicity are concerned, and focus more on the example, rather than the person behind it. Nothing struck me as being culturally insensitive, but nothing struck me as culturally inclusive, either. Great grammar, even by non-mathematician standards! Very clear and concise wording. For example, page 710, 2nd column, third line: there are three words, "of" "semicircular" and "arch" and much whitespace in between. In many places, the words are poorly spaced on the lines. There are some issues with links to entries in the text, e.g., references to theorems are not correct. The text is very well organized and some of the application examples come at exactly the right time and at a level that is accessible to most students. While I did not notice explicit references to Volumes 1 and 2, I would imagine those are there, as well, since it helps to make reference to earlier material developed in Calculus I and II to explain some of the concepts in Calculus III.īut, as a text for Calculus III, it is as self-contained as it can be without becoming a text for all three courses, Calculus I, II and III. Not fairly modular, since each section will make reference to material developed in the text. Such casual use of terms is okay in conversation with the student, but is best avoided in a text. There are times when the authors may become a bit too fast and loose with their terminology. Overall, the text is fairly clear, but I think it could be edited for precision in links and wording. Moreover, the text makes reference to Fermat's Theorem, when they in fact meant the 2nd derivative test. Such questions in the HW will leave the students wondering what exactly is being asked. For example, in the minimizing/maximizing section, the 'partial derivatives test' is referenced, but never defined. There are times when incorrect references are made and instructions are unclear. I find that students are weak in this area (parametric equations) and the review would be helpful. What I appreciated was the book beginning with 'parametric equations and polar coordinates.' Of course, this is suppose to be standard material in a Calculus II course, but perhaps this is evidence of "Calculus 3"-creep into "Calculus 2". That said, if what one considers 'calculus 3' changes as a result of students being less prepared, then this text will need to be updated to account for students with weaker foundations. The mathematics at this level is on a firm footing and will not be changing for the foreseeable future. Additionally, some figures are not entirely accurate and are misleading, e.g., the figure on continuity (the image of the open disk should not then again be an open disk on the surface, rather the image of such). The reason for the '4' in this category is that there could be many more figures, especially in the later sections on minimizing and maximizing functions and multivariable functions (viewing the level curves in conjunction with the surface). That said, I would have liked to see something on the higher-order derivative test. All of the important topics are covered and the examples are very thorough. Reviewed by Rob Niemeyer, Assistant Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 10/21/19 Journalism, Media Studies & Communications +.
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