Calculus I (Idiot’s Guides)

Let’s face it: most students don’t take calculus because they find it intellectually stimulating. It’s not … at least for those who come up on the wrong side of the bell curve! There they are, minding their own business, working toward some non-science related degree, when … BLAM! They get next semester’s course schedule in the mail, and first on the list is the mother of all loathed college courses … CALCULUS!

Not to fear—Idiot’s Guides: Calculus I is a curriculum-based companion book created with this audience in mind. This new edition continues the tradition of taking the sting out of calculus by adding more explanatory graphs and illustrations and doubling the number of practice problems! By the time readers are finished, they will have a solid understanding (maybe even a newfound appreciation) for this useful form of math. And with any luck, they may even be able to make sense of their textbooks and teachers.

Table of Contents

Part 1: The Roots of Calculus
Chapter 1 What Is Calculus, Anyway?
Chapter 2 Polish Up Your Algebra Skills
Chapter 3 Equations, Relations, And Functions
Chapter 4 Trigonometry: Last Stop Before Calculus

Part 2: Laying the Foundation for Calculus
Chapter 5 Take It To The Limit
Chapter 6 Evaluating Limits Numerically
Chapter 7 Continuity
Chapter 8 The Difference Quotient

Part 3: The Derivative
Chapter 9 Laying Down The Law For Derivatives
Chapter 10 Common Differentiation Tasks
Chapter 11 Using Derivatives To Graph
Chapter 12 Derivatives And Motion
Chapter 13 Common Derivative Applications

Part 4: The Integral
Chapter 14 Approximating Area
Chapter 15 Antiderivatives
Chapter 16 Applications Of The Fundamental Theorem

Part 5: Differential Equations and More
Chapter 17 Differential Equations
Chapter 18 Visualizing Differential Equations
Chapter 19 Final Exam