Solving a problem usually relies on the use of common sense and critical thinking skills. Students are encouraged to develop estimating and approximating skills. The book contains the main ideas of calculus in plain English to improve the students' understanding and to encourage them to read it. Worked out examples are not entirely like the problem sets in the text. The result is that students cannot simply mimic techniques from the examples, without actually learning the concepts.
Technology is used as a tool to help students visualize the concepts.
It is recommended that a graphing calculator, graphing software, or computer algebra system be used with this book but the emphasis is on the calculus concepts and not the technology. Top New thread of honors sections, called Focus on Theory, that build upon the student's geometric intuition. These sections present case studies in the formulation of axioms, definitions, and proof, including the completeness axiom, the definition of limit, the Extreme Value Theorem, and the Mean Value Theorem. New section on limits and continuity in Chapter 1. New section on limits, l'Hopital's Rule, and relative growth rates in Chapter 4.