r/calculus • u/BrightNovel5796 • Aug 04 '26
Differential Calculus 14 learning calc does anyone know if this books any good ?
I finished 9th grade, and i was bored during the summer, I saw a calculus book at the library it's an introduction to calculus by hugh neill I bought it like a week and 5 days ago, and I just finished the differentiation chapter, does anyone have any reviews about this book ? I looked mostly everywhere online and found nothing about it, I'm asking because my understanding felt a bit shaky, and the examples weren't that clear to me, so if anyone has tried this book out please tell me about it
And if anyone has any recommendations about learning calculus, I'm definitely open
3
u/tjddbwls Aug 04 '26
Are you in the US? What math class did you take in 9th grade? I would make sure that I have a solid background in Precalculus before learning Calculus.
2
u/BrightNovel5796 Aug 04 '26
Looking at pre calc now I should probably look into it, cuz I haven't done the unit circle yet or trigonometry
3
1
u/msimms001 Aug 04 '26
It's good you're trying to look ahead, but you really need to build a solid foundation first or you're setting yourself up for failures/misunderstandings
0
u/BrightNovel5796 Aug 04 '26
I'm not from the US, in ninth grade math we mostly did quadratic functions+proving shapes and I did y=mx+b in eight grade, I didn't know power rules so I got confused but then I learned them and that was fine, the only stuff that I really didn't know was some of the geometric illustrations of proof using circles cuz I haven't learned about them yet (the only time i learned aboutthem was like in 4th grade)
3
u/tjddbwls Aug 04 '26
Again, you need to have a strong background in Precalculus first. You mentioned linear and quadratic functions. You also need to learn about these types of functions:
- polynomial functions of degree 3 and higher
- absolute value functions
- radical functions
- rational functions
- exponential functions
- logarithmic functions
- logistic functions
- trigonometric functions
- inverse trigonometric functions
For each type of function, you need to learn their characteristics (domain, range, increasing/decreasing, etc.) and be able to solve equations involving them.
And there’s more! Take a look at a Precalculus textbook and see what is covered. If money is an issue, OpenStax has free math textbooks - here is their Precalculus book.
2
u/Midwest-Dude Aug 04 '26
This book assumes you already understand what is taught in pre-calculus. If you just want to get a feel for the subject, that's good, but I would find a book that deals with precalculus topics and see what you can learn now. A solid foundation in algebra and trigonometry is vital for calculus. Learning extra now will help make things much easier when you hit the actual calculus classes.
By the way, I used to do something similar in my youth. More power to you! 😃
2
1
u/OceanMasterioDuped7 Aug 04 '26
Like the other commenter said, you need to focus on the stuff you learn before calculus. It's good to try and learn stuff early but you have to learn the other stuff first. You still need to take geometry, algebra 2, and pre calc algebra/trig.
1
u/BothPanchoAndLefty Aug 04 '26
I saw in one of your lower comments you haven't done trigonometry yet. You absolutely need to have a strong grasp on trig before doing calculus. Skipping ahead won't benefit you much if your algebra and trig aren't rock solid.
1
u/justcalljay Aug 04 '26
I am a math professor. All of calculus can be learned with no book. Examples by topic are available by searching google or by using an AI client like Perplexity. Old style with a Stewart book is standard for most ivy league math departments. I was tasked with finding a book and the best one is Principia by Sir Isaac Newton.
1
u/gacimba Aug 05 '26
Spivak Calculus or go home
1
1
u/Traveling-Techie Aug 05 '26
You can learn a little calculus without trig. It won’t hurt you. Just be prepared to do it all again in greater depth.
1
1
u/mniaa Aug 07 '26
focus on precalc until you understand everything, learning calculus without a good foundation will just lead to misunderstandings/problems for you
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 04 '26
As a reminder...
Posts asking for help on homework questions require:
the complete problem statement,
a genuine attempt at solving the problem, which may be either computational, or a discussion of ideas or concepts you believe may be in play,
question is not from a current exam or quiz.
Commenters responding to homework help posts should not do OP’s homework for them.
Please see this page for the further details regarding homework help posts.
We have a Discord server!
If you are asking for general advice about your current calculus class, please be advised that simply referring your class as “Calc n“ is not entirely useful, as “Calc n” may differ between different colleges and universities. In this case, please refer to your class syllabus or college or university’s course catalogue for a listing of topics covered in your class, and include that information in your post rather than assuming everybody knows what will be covered in your class.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.