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Title: Vector Calculus by Jerrold E. Marsden, Anthony J. Tromba ISBN: 0-7167-4992-0 Publisher: W H Freeman & Co. Pub. Date: January, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $115.05 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.78 (23 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Marsden's "Vector Calculus"
Comment: When I was a university student back to the 80's, there are many vector calculus books I can read from the library. However, Marsden's book is the best book I ever read on this subject for students. It is very good for both college students and for self-study purpose. I couldn't resist to buy and keep one myself and it is still very useful to me today. It is the most complete book on the subject of VC extends from introductory to even higher than master level. Very clear, systematic, strict but inspiring. Then comes, later, books with the same title from Colley, Barr and Matthews etc. Colley's book is very good for student also but I still find Marsden's book the best. Highly recommended.
Rating: 2
Summary: Not a good intro.
Comment: While some of my peers deem "Vector Calculus" to be a fine integration of theory and practice, I'd have to COMPLETELY disagree. From a teaching stand point, it is one of the worst texts out there (at least for a first course). At my university, some of the instructors have tried to use it as the text for the second half of a four quarter calculus sequence. This attempt has met with terrible failure, in my opinion. Most of my students (math majors and engineering students) found the book difficult and perplexing with few examples that pertained to the material they were required to learn. Luckily, the professor for my course was very good at conveying the ideas present without alluding to the text; nevertheless, I spent countless hours in discussion helping my students understand material that most standard texts would have clearly elucidated for them. In fact, at numerous points, the text becomes so involved with its own pedagogy that it neglects to delinate between important, must-know theorems and simply interesting facts.
In addition, only the very first exercises in a given section are useful for most students. A number of the later questions become interesting problems in some upper div. class, but have no bearing on the course at hand. Quite a few of them are not difficult but require "tricks" which often discourage the students by giving them the impression that they don't get the material simply because they couldn't come up with the solutions to these extraneous questions.
I would strongly recommend Stewart's text (for those of you on the West Coast) and Salas and Hille's text (for those of you in the Southwest).
Prehaps, Marsden's text would be o.k. for a more advanced course on vector calc. or as a go-between supplement for a more rigorous text.
Rating: 2
Summary: Relatively weak as a standard textbook on vector calculus
Comment: I am well aware of the usefulness of these reviews in determining the applicability of a book for self-study; so let me address this quickly. This has got to be the worst vector calculus book available if you're looking to study the subject on your own!!! This book is frustrating and dry; please consider other self-study options!
Unfortunately, most people who use this text are required to for a class, and for whatever reason, this book has become somewhat of a standard at many universities. I used this book a while back in a Vector Calculus class at UT Austin, and I was largely disappointed by its contents.
First of all, the author of the book is dry and completely uninspiring. That's not to say that people read calculus books like novels, but the author presents the material from a strictly technical and theoretical perspective. Further adding to its blandness, the author (or the publisher) has opted for the cost-effective choice of using no color in the book. The graphs and figures are confused and lacking - often difficult to understand.
Now, the obvious rebuttal to my accusations will come from purists (hardcore math majors). I am, myself, a math (and physics) major, and though I am not saying that this text is completely inaccessible, I have to say that the author wrote this book wholly without imagination or sincerity. There is no emphasis on vector calculus' usefulness to applied mathematical sciences or other areas of math (if I do recall, though, a bit is addressed in association with integral theorems).
The only reason I give this book two stars is that the later parts of the book offer a peak at more advanced topics in geometry.
Last, and perhaps most inexcusable, the book requires an errata as a full supplement (I'm not exaggerating). This book is littered with errors, and not just grammatical typos! I suffered a couple of times on assignments due to incorrect formulas in the book. For example, the edition of the book I used gave the incorrect formula for the second derivative test! Now come on, they're actually charging people for this!!!
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Title: Study Guide for Marsden and Tromba's Vector Calculus by Karen Pao, Frederick Soon, Jerrold E. Marsden ISBN: 0716724332 Publisher: W H Freeman & Co. Pub. Date: August, 1996 List Price(USD): $31.40 |
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Title: Principles of Modern Chemistry by David W. Oxtoby, H. Pat Gillis, Norman H. Nachtrie, Norman H. Nachtrieb, Jonathan Shui Rutland ISBN: 0030353734 Publisher: Brooks Cole Pub. Date: 02 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $134.95 |
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Title: Absolute C++ by Walter Savitch, Walter J. Savitch ISBN: 0201709279 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 15 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $90.00 |
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Title: Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, Third Edition by Douglas C. Giancoli ISBN: 0130215171 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 15 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $140.00 |
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Title: Calculus Single Variable 5th Edition (with CD-ROM) by James Stewart ISBN: 0534393667 Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $108.95 |
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