Calculus Textbook Recommendation (for Chemist/Microbiologist)

[ghostwind]

Don't you think Apostol 1 is too dry for him? It's like HAL explaining calculus. He has backed off the super rigorous books to some degree, I think he has made good choices so far.

Only he can say if he likes Apostol's style or not. I do see this criticism of Apostol (i.e. that he's dry, etc.), but I think he's OK. Clearly there is a contrast to Spivak who's more verbose and "fun" in a good way, but both cover ground, though Spivak is all theory and no applications at all from what I've seen. Apostol is more "scholarly" for lack of a better word, and covers everything without missing a beat it seems. But mainly I just think if he's to be using Apostol in 2.5 months time for a course designed to use that book (Vol. 2), it would behoove him to get used to Apostol via Vol. 1. This will accomplish his goals of wanting to go deeper, and also allow to connect with Apostol's style which he'll have no choice but to use come fall. And those courses that he'll be taking that are using Apostol Vol. 2, have Apostol Vol. 1 courses as prerequisites most likely.

The linear algebra books you listed are fine, and I could add the one I used, but I think taking on that as well in 2.5 months time max is a lot to swallow. Spend the time in a quality way, in a productive way, instead of being too ambitious. Again, this is just my advice, but exactly what I would do. The whole story changed when he said he'll be taking a course that uses Apostol Vol. 2 next year. For me it became a no-brainer to recommend Apostol. If he can get through that in 2.5 months, he'd be in a very good position and have a bit of linear algebra too.

 

[bacte2013]

Thank you very much all of your helps! I actually have been reading the Volume 1 of Apostol. I actually like it better than Spivak in terms of writing style and contents (I think Apostol covers more than Spivak). I also think that the problem sets in Apostol is much doable than Spivak, which is filled with all hellish problems on every chapter. I also recently bought the book called "Essential Calculus with Applications" by Richard A. Silverman (Dover) to learn more about the applications of calculus. My chemistry research mentor also studied from Apostol, and he said that book helped him to understand the higher-division chemistry courses like quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. I also love those books more than my Stewart, which I donated to my high school.

Once again, thank you very much for all of your advice! This forum is incredibly helpful!

 

[ghostwind]

Wow. I'm shocked by this information. I assumed that Calculus was unilaterally a standard thing everywhere in the last (two) year(s) of high school. Actually I'm confused as hell about US maths education. What topics do they cover in HS?

Here's a very good read on the history of math education in the US over the last 100 years, and why we are where we are today.

http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/CUPM/pdf/MAAUndergradHistory.pdf