Learn Calculus for Physics: Videos & Books

[Patriciamsv]

I am very interested in physics, and so naturally I would like to teach myself the necessities of calculus, in order to allow myself to understand physics more.

Could anybody recommend any videos or books I could get started with?

 

[micromass]

I highly recommend "A first course in calculus" by Serge Lang. It is a very good book to learn calculus and it's really worth going through.

You might want to supplement it with videos of Khan academy. Be warned: the word is "supplement", do not use it as a primary resource! And don't forget doing a lot of calculus exercises, even the mere "drilling exercises".

A book you should eventually go through is Spivak's calculus. But I do not recommend this for a beginner. Go through Lang first to get an intuitive and conceptual feel of the theory. Then go through Spivak to get a more rigorous view of things.

 

[Romaine]

If you wanted to go the e-course route, you could try:

Education portal
The Saylor foundation
Coursera
EdisonLearning
MIT Courseware

If you want to try free ebooks, you could try:

Calculus in Context
Calculus (Paul Dawkins)
Calculus(wikibooks)
Calculus: A Modern Rigorous Approach
Differential and Integral Calculus(C.E Love)
Calculus, Applications and Theory(Kenneth Kuttler)

These are just a few. Here are some links to some free calculus ebooks:

e-booksdirectory.com
Bookboon.com
Math and multimedia.com
Gutenberg.org
Free-books.net

 

[adelin]

You can use mit courseware. They have Calculus I and II and book aren't necessary.

you can buy Calculus by Thomas/Finney 9 edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MccSGWZdM_A&list=ECF5E22224459D23D9&index=2, Calculus I by the University of Missouri - Kansas City


The Calculus Lifesaver:
All the Tools You Need to Excel at Calculus
by Adrian Banner.It includes videos to explain the material in the book.

 

[rezeew]

I highly encourage your interest in learning calculus for physics. Calculus is a fundamental tool in understanding and solving complex problems in physics. I would recommend starting with a textbook such as "Calculus for Scientists and Engineers" by William Briggs and Lyle Cochran or "Calculus: Early Transcendentals" by James Stewart. These books provide a comprehensive introduction to calculus with applications to physics.

In addition, there are many online resources available such as Khan Academy and MIT OpenCourseWare that offer free videos and lectures on calculus for physics. These can be helpful in supplementing your learning from the textbook.

I also suggest practicing problems and working through examples to solidify your understanding of the concepts. This will help you apply calculus to real-world physics problems.

Remember, learning calculus takes time and patience, but with dedication and perseverance, you will be able to grasp the necessary skills to understand physics at a deeper level. Good luck in your studies!