I first took calculus over 20 years ago and always did well in math, so I wanted a text that I could keep as a refresher (for studying more advanced statistics) and reference for things I may have forgotten. So my experience with the book may differ from someone who has never been exposed to calculus before. In my opinion, this book is an excellent introductory text for single variable calculus. While it is a bit dated (it's a reprint from 1977), given its low cost, compactness, and how comprehensive it is, I think its value is unbeatable (especially compared to current university calculus texts).
While there *are* some drawbacks/negative aspects, I think they're pretty minor but they should be pointed out either way:
1) Typos -- there are a non-insignificant number of typos throughout. Some of these are trivial to spot, while a few were in the answers to select exercises. I spent time scratching my head trying to match the printed answer when it turns out there was a typo. This might be a bigger concern for absolute beginners.
2) Graphics -- the figures are clearly very dated and don't have captions. However, this isn't really a problem until the later chapters on functions of more than one variable, and even then I thought they were clear enough.
3) Content -- I found the book a bit verbose in some places, but this may be more appreciated by a beginner. Also, if you will never take introductory physics, you might struggle with or be frustrated by how many of the examples and exercises are specific to physics problems (even though this is, historically, how calculus came about).
4) References -- since the book is so long, it would have been nice if the author included page numbers when referring back to a particular chapter/section/equation. He sometimes does this, but it isn't a big issue.
Overall, I don't think anyone who will need to use calculus would be disappointed in having this book around. There are chapters and sections marked as optional, a comprehensive list of integrals of different forms at the back, and the author explains concepts intuitively. For the most important theorems and ideas, I use post-it tabs for quick reference.
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Reviews with images
Usual calculus textbook
Reads well as any other calculus textbook. Not enough problems though.
