Best Calculus book for self-study

Sankaku

Not in the way that you think. Spivak builds your understanding of Calculus from the ground up, but you still need a very good grasp of precalculus topics to have any chance of understanding Spivak.

It is a great book, but everyone here recommending it probably learned basic calc from a different book and then found Spivak (just a guess!). It is super for deeper understanding, but I stand by my suggestion that it probably isn't the text for a first time calc student unless you are very strong at grasping new math topics.

Buy a copy of the 3rd edition (cheaper) and see for yourself. It is worth owning anyway...

n!kofeyn

I should clarify. I didn't mean that it would be enough to completely teach you precalculus. I meant that if you are at a level at which you can understand or get through the first 70 pages, then there isn't much reason to go and find another precalculus book, especially since you've had trigonometry. But if you find yourself hesitant or not comfortable with the material in that section of Spivak, then go find a precalculus book at your local library. I don't know of any precalculus books that stand out, but others might. In my opinion, a precalculus book won't be an investment. You'll learn it and never look back, but your calculus text will always be a great reference. You can use any library's interlibrary loan to basically get any book you want that your library doesn't, so get Spivak and find a precalculus book, and then you could make a better judgement where you should start.

There isn't any reason someone can't learn calculus for the first time with Spivak. That's why it's there and such a good book. Stewart and the like (i.e. any book that makes endless editions, multiple types of editions, interactive CDs, etc. just to make publishers and the authors money) teach computational and boring calculus. Don't shy away from learning calculus the right way. Learn precalculus by any method you choose and then go for it. You could just go for Spivak and find that it really didn't matter that you haven't a formal precalculus class, or you could find that you need to step back and learn it. You don't lose either way.

Final thought, I wish I had learned calculus first from Spivak and not Stewart.

qspeechc

If you're going to use Spivak, and it is an excellent book, maybe you want to learn how to do proofs first. I recommend How to Read and Do Proofs by Solow, or How to Prove It by Velleman, whatever you can get cheapest.