I have a horrible attention span for math nowadays but found the whole first chapter a pleasant read. Different strokes for different folks and all that. It could be a little better spaced out and what not, but this is a great refresher.
Illustrated Calculus Textbook
21–30 of 38 posts
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#22Ow, my eyes. I love the idea but it's very hard to read.
White space does wonders for readability.
That's a lesson a lot of us in mathematics have trouble learning. We have this tendency to try to maximize information density, viewing empty space as inefficient because there's "nothing" there, when in reality the space communicates separation and therefore actually does contain vital information.
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#23It's like a lot of other calculus books I have, only polychromatic, difficult to read, and gives me this slightly creepy face every now and then. I mean, it seems solid, but it's just really hard to read.
Really, my favorite gentle calculus textbook has been one I recently was Thompson's "Calculus Made Easy." The way it's written is informal by the standards of when it was written, but to a modern eye reads like your whimsical grandpa decided to bust out a pipe, an expensive brandy, and serious calc knowledge.
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#24The approach certainly has merit - in the sense of making math seem less serious and more fun. We need more of this approach!
Execution needs work though. Way too cluttered and dense. I would move more slowly and make sure 1 concept is put totally to bed before moving onto the next one.
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#25Come to think of it, my first calculus book (back in the 70s) was a comic book--"Prof. E McSquared's Calculus Primer"
Highly recommended.
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#26The idea of presenting calculus visually is certainly a good one, but this is useless for anyone other than the author. The point of illustrations is to enhance the material and this is just plain unreadable. Here is an interesting project that is far more successful at math illustration and shows some promise: http://worrydream.com/KillMath/
"this is useless for anyone other than the author"
I thought we had gone over this: EVERYBODY LEARNS MATHEMATICS DIFFERENTLY :)
This book is useless for you and wonderful for me.
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#27I'm not sure how easy it is to learn something new from those notes, but they are probably the greatest calculus refresher I've seen so far.
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#28I like the notes.It makes it easier to grab the concepts. After going through notes i will dig deeper in the concepts.
Than kyou for the post
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#29Anyone else having trouble comprehending the text?
yups, read it slowly and you will understand.
Re: Illustrated Calculus Textbook
#30This book is actually very easy for me to read. This may explain why I never got along with my calculus teachers.