Calculus is not easy but this book helped me remember derivatives and integrals. I used it as a reference/refresher for some Master's classes.

This isn't all the other calculus books out there. In fact, this is a very old book (early 20th century) and it's surprising how accessible it is (I would say, more than today's books). The writer is witty and sympathetic at all times (the first chapter is called 'To Deliver You From Preliminary Terrors').

Thompson has a super-smart manner of presenting one of the scariest subjects for most Math-sciences students. His explanation for calculus not only makes it easy to understand but also paves the way for indulging deeper into more sophisticated books without any fear.

4 stars

n  Being myself a remarkably stupid fellow, I have had to unteach myself the difficulties, and now beg to present to my fellow fools the parts that are not hard. Master these thoroughly, and the rest will follow. What one fool can do, another can.n

Okay, so this isn't rigorous in the SLIGHTEST (extensive separation of differential operators enclosed!), but it is an excellent way to introduce calculus concepts on a more intuitive level that can easily be cleaned up later. Thoroughly recommend for anyone interested in calculus but doesn't have the best background with mathematics.

Ah, Thompson.

Mad props for being the first calculus text I didn't hate, and actually being fun. I really got a feel for how important it was for Thompson to remove the intimidation from calculus. The style is conversational, even breezy. What one fool can do, another can. The invective against obscurantism in mathematics is also spot on.

But let's be honest: the coverage is extremely rudimentary, and since there's no analytical treatment, the path to generalization to more complex problems is far from clear, so one star off. To be fair to Thompson, though, the simplicity comes in part from using infinitesimals rather than limits, and the logical basis for infinitesimals wouldn't achieve rigor until non-standard analysis circa 1965, or smooth infinitesimal analysis circa 1974. Heck, Thompson wrote while mainstream analysis was still being worked out.

So highly recommended to a bright high-schooler or baffled undergrad, ideally to be followed by A Primer of Infinitesimal Analysis, if you can convince people that you don't need the standard analysis curriculum.

This should be made the standard textbook for calculus primer.

What one fool can do, another can.

I wish I had read this before taking college calculus.

It's still not that easy, but - as Martin Gardner explains in the introduction - this book still outshines any textbook in terms of accessibility and simplicity. 700 pages of dense, graphics filled problem sets can make a subject seem so intimidating that no one will ever want to touch it. I know I didn't. No wonder many people still look at math students as possessing a form of 'genius' that is both threatening and alienating at the same time. This book was written for school kids back in 1910 and contains very simple explanations with a little bit of dry humor thrown in. Very British and sensible, and a much better approach to teaching mathematics to children or, in my case, 28 year olds.

Calculus made easy is one of the best science and math books that I have read to date. Silvanus Thompson did an amazing job with explaining a possibly complicated subject with great detail and made each point crystal clear. It also helps with the countless examples that he gives and works out to show you how each problem is done. Not only that, Martin Gardener wrote an amazing preface and reviewed the entire book. This preface helps you understand more of the world of calculus. The preface helps, but the reviews and side notes that Martin added are as if they look like they were part of the original book. These points also help you know how the definitions or the problems. Another point that is important to note is that they don't just demonstrate how the problems are done, Thompson and Gardener also prove how the math is true and how it can be used in science and in the real world. Calculus made easy was a fun, easy, and elegant transition from simple algebra into the world of calculus. This book is definitely worth the read.

didnt read it i jusy really don't like calculus

Makes you appreciate Epsilon and think of calculus as an art. And in addition to this; it has plenty of exercises and situations where you can think of applying calculus - which is one of the major reason why people don’t pursue advance mathematics. Viz: they cannot think of enough use cases. This book covers ample of them.