The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems (Humongous Books)

This book is mostly a problems repository. Like the author's other "humongous" books, from chapter 1 it starts giving you problems with very little setup or theory up-front. It does have a chapter introduction page that introduces the topic(s) in the chapter, but then it just starts in with example problems. But, unlike some of the other guides out there that have just a ton of example problems in them, the author does weave in the explanation of the theory in the form of margin notes that are added to explain how to tackle/solve the problems. Along with the theory, the author gives you tips for solving different problem types, advice on things to look out for, and marks the hardest kinds of problems with a skull and cross bones, which I think are good problems to go over before your exams.The book is good in that it does not just dive into the calculus material. The first 8 chapters (about 120 pages or so) are a review of algebra and trigonometry, making sure you have the fundamentals down in case you need to brush up on them, and then it gets into the calculus material. The calculus material covers all of the topics that you will be exposed to in the first year of calculus, starting with limits and ending with using integration techniques on sequences and series problems. It also goes over the introduction to differential equations that students usually get in the second semester, and has good examples for solving related rates problems and optimization problems.The book does not cover multivariable calculus, linear algebra, or the more complicated differential equations material that you will get in later classes if you need to go beyond calculus 1 and 2. This will, however, definitely help you get through the material in the first year of calculus, especially if you have a hard time understanding your textbook and/or your teacher.

The HUMONGOUS BOOK OF CALCULUS PROBLEMS is an awesome book if you're looking for a great explanation or review of Precalculus and Calculus I and Calculus II.Consisting of 565 pages and 28 chapters, topics include: Linear Equations & Inequalities, Polynomials, Rational Expressions, Functions, Logarithmic & Exponential Functions, Conic Sections, Trigonometric Fundamentals (including graphs, identities, and equations), Limits, Continuity, Basic Differentiation Methods, Derivitives (Basic and Advanced Applications and Techniques), Finding Areas, Integration (The Fundamental Theorem, Rational Expressions, Advanced Techniques, Volumes), Parametric and Polar Equations. Also added is a one chapter review of Differential Equations and 3 final chapters dealing with Sequences, Infinite Series, and various tests analyzing them.The author's statement that "Just about every single kind of calculus problem you could run into is in here" is true! But to me, what makes this book really awesome are two things:1) The author has complete solutions to all 1000 sample problems.2) He also includes very helpful sidenotes explaining important steps in the solutions.Yes, for a person doing the book as a "Self-Study Review" its a dream come true!I noticed some reviewers have commented there are are no additional problems to try to see if you've grasped the concepts. I can understand their concern, but here is how I worked thru the book: I began each chapter studying the basic concept it dealt with along with the various definitions and side notes. Then I worked each problem in the order they appeared, checking my answer with the author's solution afterwards. Working thru the book this way worked for me. I suppose extra problems (with just the answers) would be nice at the end of each chapter but I was happy with the book as is.

I purchased this book because I wanted to go back to school and major in Mathematics. In hindsight, I think it was not the wisest decision to take Calculus II (in the summer) when it has been over five years since I studied math. Regardless of my premature leap into the class, I have to say that it helped a little bit for the topics we did covered. I feel that this book would be better for Calculus I and first sections of Calc II but this is based on the Calc II I took at a local junior college. I really appreciate that they worked out a couple of the problems so you can see how to solve the problems.By no means this book is perfect because it doesn't cover some of the more advanced topics of Calculus and some of the problems that they worked out left me more confused than ever. In all, I think it is a great book to have in your collection and I would recommend referring to online tutorials on YouTube (i.e. Khan's Academy and countless others), Schaum's series, and the Calculus Lifesaver book (not the exact title). This is not by any means a substitution to actually paying attention in class, taking good notes, and asking questions if you are unclear about a particular problem. I would highly suggest that you borrow this book from the library before making the leap in purchasing this. I did just that but unfortunately the copied I had in possession had the very pages I needed to understand certain problems. I notified the librarian of the fact.