isbn0495011606

Reader' Reviews

Excellent Experience! / / 2010-08-28
First time buying from this seller and I had a great experience!! The book was listed in new condition and it was in perfect condition when it arrived. The expected delivery date was 3 weeks from the purchase date, and I recieved it within 10 days. I highly recommend this seller and appreciate the great service, transaction and product. It was exactly what I was expecting!! Thank you!

College Calculus / / 2010-08-04
It's not a good book. Not very good at explaining topics and concepts. Some of the problems are taught in the lessons.

A calculus student's opinion / / 2010-07-25
Admittedly, I've never used another calculus textbook, but I generally found this one to be good enough that I could learn from it. I have read the chapters before and after class and generally found the book to helpful in my understanding of the subject material. Having said that, I like math and have a very strong base in algebra, so the examples never really left me wondering (as so many people have complained about). It's not magic he's using to solve problems, it's algebra. Stewart skips steps in his example problems because the steps he's skipping are algebraic in nature and therefore shouldn't require further explanation (it would be tedious and long if he showed ALL of his steps). Examples are clearly labeled so I'm not sure what the confusion concerning that is all about. I've also never seen a problem in the back of the book be incorrect as many have complained about.

All in all, I give it four, but not five, stars because it was what I expected and needed out of a textbook, but I've never had any experience with other texts. I should also add that I had a wonderful teacher and only needed the book as a supplement.

Kindle DX version review / / 2010-07-21
This is NOT a review of quality of writing of the paper version.

This is a review of this book on Kindle DX, and there are two bad things about it.

1. Graphics look awful. Pixelated, blurry and with no contrast. I have last-gen Kindle DX and I'm not sure how graphics look on the regular Kindle. Maybe they were optimized for smaller Kindle, but on my DX they're blurry and awful. It's not an issue with Kindle screen, because the book text is crispy and nice. It's an issue with how they "optimized" graphics. It's also not an issue with Kindle graphics. I perfectly read other math books (see below) with graphics on the Kindle. It's just an issue with this particular book. Take in mind that these blurry images make about 25% of the content (in terms of screen space) and are essential part of the text.

2. Price is even worse. I can rent this book for free in a local library. I can rent it at chegg for $50 for a semester. I can buy a paper version and sell a used book for about the same loss ($50). The Kindle version which you can't resell costs $140. Is that how Jeff Bezos wants to promote Kindle device to mass?

And then somebody in the publisher will sit and think. "I knew that this whole Kindle thing was a fluke. We sell nothing on Kindle and tons of paperback". Well, dear publishers, that's because you are trying to sell a product of worse quality (see point about graphics) at a higher price (see the point about reselling the used version or renting it). It's not how you typically generate new business opportunities.

It's not a Kindle problem. Jim Hefferon's free pdf book on Linear Alegbra ([...]) reads perfectly on Kindle DX. It's a problem with Amazon's under-commitment to textbooks and publishers' under-commitment to making money on ereaders.

Costly electronic book / / 2010-07-02
Nowadays, we are living in a world where we can purchase books, movies, and music without much difficulties at lower prices.
When we are buying an electornic book online, we are simply paying for a file and copyright. It is understandable to pay
over 100 dollars for a physical book, because we are not simply paying for an electronic file.