Description
I used Adrian Banner's The Calculus Lifesaver as the sole textbook for an intensive, three-week summer Calculus I course for high-school students. I chose this book for several reasons, among them its conversational expository style, its wealth of worked-out examples, and its price. This book is designed to supplement any standard calculus textbook, thus my students will be able to use it again when they take later calculus courses. The students in my class came from diverse backgrounds, ranging from those who had already seen much of the material to others who were struggling with basic algebra. They all uniformly praised the book for being one of the clearest mathematics texts they have ever read, and because it reviews the required prerequisite material. The numerous worked-out examples are an ideal supplement to the lectures. The only difficulty in using this book as a primary text is the lack of additional exercises in the text. However, there are so many sites and sources for calculus problems that this was not a problem. I would definitely use this book again. -- Steven J. Miller, Brown University Banner's book is a chatty, user-friendly guide to calculus that will be a useful addition to the resources available to students. Banner does an exceptionally thorough job while maintaining an engaging style. -- Gerald B. Folland, author of "Advanced Calculus" This is an engaging read. Each page engenders at least one smile, often a chuckle, occasionally a belly laugh. -- Charles R. MacCluer, author of "Honors Calculus" This book is significant. The author's attempt to give an 'inner monologue' into the thought process that is needed to solve calculus problems rather than just providing worked examples is novel and is in line with his purpose of helping the reader get a deeper understanding of calculus. The book is well written and the author's examples are clear and complete. -- Thomas Seidenberg, Phillips Exeter Academy
About the Author
Adrian Banner is Lecturer in Mathematics at Princeton University and Director of Research at INTECH.
Reviews
"Banner's style is informal, engaging and distinctly non-intimidating, and he takes pains to not skip any steps in discussing a problem. Because of its unique approach, The Calculus Lifesaver is a welcome addition to the arsenal of calculus teaching aids."--MAA Online "This rather lengthy book serves as an excellent resource as well as a text for a refresher course in single-variable calculus, and as a study guide for anyone who needs or is required to know basic calculus concepts...Readers will find this book written for them, as calculus is presented in a very casual conversational tone; certainly, students who are not mathematics majors will benefit greatly."--J.T. Zerger, Choice "Students who are having difficulty in calculus could use it as a resource in addition to their professor and teaching assistant."--Mathematics Teacher
Book Information
ISBN 9780691130880
Author Adrian Banner
Format Paperback
Page Count 752
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publisher Princeton University Press
Weight(grams) 1474g