Sniffing around Apostol’s Calculus
I’m thinking of reading CaF and Apostol in parallel.
Both volumes of my set are from the 32nd printing. The books themselves are simple, but definitely exude that can’t-quite-put-your-finger-on-it 1960’s math and engineering textbook charm.
From the Excerpts from the Preface to the First Edition
It is possible to combine a strong theoretical development with sound training technique; this book represents an attempt to strike a sensible balance between the two. While treating the calculus as a deductive science, the book does not neglect applications to physical problems.
The approach of this book has been suggested by the historical and philosophical development of calculus and analytic geometry. For example, integration is treated before differentiation. Although to some this may seem unusual, it is historically correct and pedagogically sound.
When I read the above, Apostol’s approach didn’t strike me as odd. I was an engineering student at a large East-Coast American state university in the mid-1990’s and I could have sworn that they began with integrals as well. Shock: I popped open my copy of Thomas and Finney’s Calculus and Analytic Geometry (8th ed.) just now and, lo and behold, they start out with derivatives.
From the Preface to the Second Edition
Differences from the first edition:
- Linear algebra added.
- Mean-value theorems and applications of calculus show up earlier in the text.
- Smaller chapters centered on a single main idea.
This post is part of the series Apostol's Calculus
- Sniffing around Apostol’s Calculus
- Marble composition notebook time again it seems