The Most Enlightening Calculus Books

The most enlightening Calculus books
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Posted by Antonio Cangiano in Math Education, Suggested Reading on May 13th, 2007 | 62 responses
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In Walter Rudins autobiography The Way I Remember It, he comments on a calculus book defining it as too good to be
widely used and further states that:
Widely used calculus books must be mediocre. W. Rudin
The temptation to discard that statement as elitist may be strong, but it is worth noticing how there is so much truth to it.
Education is embracing a dangerous downward spiral towards the oversimplification of mathematics in favor of letting every
student pass, despite their actual understanding of the subject.
Dumbing down mathematics is a dangerous trend which affects students at all levels, from primary school where children are
no longer taught how to perform division by following the standard algorithm to a complete emphasis on anti-racist
mathematics and calculus courses where delta and epsilon are not mentioned while teaching limits, because they are
considered to be too complicated or too confusing for most students. Of course, this is not the case everywhere, and
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bright students who study on their own will always exist (despite the fact that the social satire of Idiocracy may be more
accurate that we like to think).
This problem exists because educational changes such as these reflect negatively on the competence level of the average
student, meaning that a decent chunk of the next generation of mathematicians, engineers and scientists will be facing
increasingly complex, unsolved problems and challenges with an inadequate amount of preparation. Most students have a
tendency to adapt their study levels around the difficulty of the examinations they will be exposed to. In other words, no
matter how easy a Calculus course is, there will always be a majority of C students. Making the courses dumber has only
resulted in the creation of artificial A, B and C students who wouldnt stand a chance against a C student of the 50s, in
terms of understanding and mastering the subject.
It is therefore very important to consider what are the great classical books available that can provide a solid basis for
studying mathematics and that can guide, inspire and enlighten the student who wishes to learn mathematics the way it
should be. To be factual there are still institutions which adopt valid textbooks and didnt jeopardize their curricula too
much, but thats not the general rule unfortunately. What are then the best Calculus books? Best is very relative to the
student, but in this context I will consider what is best for relatively bright students who have a genuine interest in
calculus/mathematics. Books that I myself have found very appealing to me, and therefore my list is declaratively biased. All
of the following books do a very good job of covering the material, explain the subject matter well, have mathematical rigor,
proofs for the most important theorems, challenging exercises, and are able to really teach Calculus I at a sufficiently high
level. Each of the books listed below is able to enlighten, guide and inspire the reader who is willing to put the time and
effort into going through them:
1. Calculus by Michael Spivak (Updated in July 2008!): I cant praise this book high enough, to me this is THE calculus
book. It has a great selection of topics, careful and extremely rigorous proofs, and it goes well beyond the scope of
calculus, so much so that a better title would be Introduction to the beauty of Real Analysis, because it really
bridges between calculus and more advanced real analysis, showing how beautiful mathematics is. Spivak literally
guides you in a enlightening experience, discovering Calculus, starting from the properties of the numbers and building
on top of it. The examples are very meaningful, the explanations are clear, and the subject is so well presented and
motived. It is, in my opinion, one of the most inspirational mathematics books Ive ever read. The exercises proposed
at the end of each chapter test different levels of understanding and dont fail to challenge the reader on the subject.
These are exercises which really make you feel like you are taking a second course on the topic. In fact, Id say that
the exercise sections of this book are especially valuable, and youre highly encouraged to work through all of them.
This book is great for anyone who is serious about mathematics and who wishes to have a very solid foundations upon
which to face the challenges of more advanced courses down the road. Spivaks book comes with a few selected
solutions to odd numbered problems, but if you are self-studying or are disciplined enough, you may want to consider
the associated answers book (which by the way is in print, despite what Amazon lists on their pages).
2. Introduction to Calculus and Analysis, Volume 1 by Richard Courant and Fritz John: a classical, well thought
introduction to Calculus and Analysis in one variable, where explanations are very clear and the material is covered in
a way which provides a good deal of motivation. The approach is more practical and less abstract than other Calculus
books, while conserving a perfect balance between mathematical rigor and intuition. This book comes with plenty of
exercises that will reinforce the knowledge of the student. The abundance of physics applications, make it ideal for
physics majors and engineers as well. This is the first volume of a trilogy republished by Springer, if you are serious
about Calculus, you may want to also consider the other two more advanced volumes: Volume II/1 and Volume II/2.
An absolutely beautiful set of books.
3. Calculus, Vol. 1: by Tom M. Apostol: a very comprehensive book, methodical in the theorem/proof approach, adopted
by many high-end universities as a first year textbook for courses in calculus or calculus and theory. Its coverage of
the subject is impressive and provides a good selection of standard exercises. It is an excellent reference and textbook,
albeit you may find it a bit dry and less inspirational than others at first, but you will eventually develop an
appreciation of its teaching method. You may want to note that this is the first volume, and that the second volume is
also worth getting: Calculus, Vol. 2: Multi-Variable Calculus and Linear Algebra with Applications.
4. A Course of Pure Mathematics by G.H. Hardy: this is the 10th edition of a book first published in 1908 by the great
mathematician G.H. Hardy. It is a classic textbook that brought much needed rigor, and reformed the way math was
taught in the UK in the twentieth century. This book is intentionally written to address the brightest students of the
time, therefore it is a very inspirational and enthusiastic piece of work with plenty of elegant proofs and suggestions,
and exercises that are definitely very challenging. For example, there are exercises coming from the Math Tripos
examinations (at Cambridge) from early part of the last century, and they will definitely keep you busy for some time.
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Some notations are a bit outdated and it is mostly an introduction to real analysis that may be a bit too much as a first
book. But this book is a masterpiece nevertheless, and its a classic that as a mathematician you will want to have in
your library. I think its ideal as a reference and as a supplement to other textbooks (e.g., Spivak).
More than just calculus, these also serve as introductions to Analysis, and in general to mathematics at an undergraduate
level. They are challenging, not for the faint heart, but ultimately a joy for math lovers.
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62 Responses to The most enlightening Calculus books
1.
Alexander Jimenez says:

March 2, 2013 at 8:39 am
What, exactly, is wrong with anti-racist mathematics?
From the link you gave, it seems that the goals are to promote the historicity of mathematical contributions by, for
example, the Indians and Muslims, who were doing algebra and number theory for centuries before Europe got the
Bernoulli clan, and Gauss, and the German schools. European mathematics and science (including and especially the
Greeks) were shambles until the Eastern influence inspired people like Newton and Gauss.
The other goals seem to be to not ascribe talents or deficits to races, so that students internalize the mathematical
content, instead of internalizing an I cant do this because Im _______ attitude.
Obviously, this is a positive movement which promotes historicity alongside the mathematical content.
Reply
2.
Fredrick says:
July 15, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Anti-racist mathematics is left-wing political propaganda and a poison to the classroom environment.
For there to be a need for so called anti-racist mathematics assumes that regular mathematics is racist, which is
stupid because mathematics has nothing to do with race issues at all. If its history youre worried about then dont be
because Ive never come across a single math book/text that denies (for example) that ancient Babylonians and
Egyptians were among the first astronomers and inventors of geometry, or that the Persian Al-Khwarizmi invented
algebra, or that our modern base-10 counting system has its origins in ancient India, or that the most basic ingredients
of calculus were known before Newton and Leibniz were born, and so on.
If anyone is interested in learning about the history of mathematics then thats a subject of its own and should not take
up class time that would otherwise be used to teach actual mathematics. Knowing whether it was Newton, Leibniz, or
someone else who invented calculus first does not help you in the slightest when it comes to understanding calculus.
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Can you please take a moment to comprehend just how ridiculous this anti-racist mathematics idea is. I remember a
friend in high-school who struggled with trigonometry. Now after all these years I finally understand! Its not that he
didnt do enough practice questions nor that he skipped classes. Its because the mathematics curriculum is racist! Oh,
dear, how I wish I could go back in time and tell him that it was the Babylonians and not Pythagoras who first
conceived of what we today call the Pythagorean Theorem. Damn, I bet if he had just known that fact then he
wouldnt have failed so many trigonometry tests.
The whole idea is so absurd that some sociopolitical windbags who in all likelihood never got beyond elementary
school times-tables suddenly feel that they know how mathematics should be taught. Give me a break!
Reply
Fredrick says:
July 15, 2013 at 3:37 pm
Sorry, for the new post. I meant for my previous comment to be a reply to Alexander Jimenezs post.
Reply
3.
Garth K says:
October 2, 2014 at 1:15 pm
Thanks for the advice!
What would you say the best textbooks are for more advanced calculus, such as a text to follow Spivak?
Reply
4.
Seranok says:
October 24, 2014 at 11:37 pm
I find calculus interesting. But it is not included in the school syllabi until 11th grade. It is included in engineering
maths actually.
Reply
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