Calculus: Concepts and Contexts (with Tools for Enriching Calculus, Interactive Video Skillbuilder, vMentor, and iLrn Homework)
I have appreciated two main things from this textbook. The first is the concise language that Stewart uses. It makes my job much easier. I can embellish, add, emphasize or not easily. The second item is the paring down of the calculus material to an amount that?allows me enough room to add the various exploratory activities that I have my classes use."The single feature of this book that I like the most is the breadth in the exercises."Stewart does a good job in extracting the best parts from calculus reform efforts and traditional approaches. The book is well organized, the material is clearly presented, and there is an abundance of problems of varying levels. The problems are the right type to engage students in thinking about the concepts and to develop skills and ability to apply the calculus?The organization and presentation is designed to develop perspective, conceptual understanding and ability to use the concepts and methods to actually solve problems."I like the author?s approach very much?it combines the best features of both [the traditional and the reform approaches], making it possible to present a better course. Stewart?s approach contains the most important aspects of that [reform] approach?rule of four, use of projects, use of technology, focus on topics of value to clients, development of conceptual understanding over formalism, writing."The text is well-informed about the use of calculus and makes good use of realistic settings, not just artificially manufactured information."I want a text that stresses the numerical and graphical as well as the algebraic approach to calculus. But I also want a calculus text that still has a solid rigorous foundation, and the Stewart book provides both."Among the strengths of this text are the clear writing styles of the author, the use of color and diagrams throughout the book, the excellent organization of the book, the superb set of ancillaries both for the student and the instructor, and the excellent homework exercises.