Calculus, Better Explained Book Notes

A list of clickable links, by chapter.

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 7

  • Now, there may be piles he’s never seen, that aredifficultor impossible to recognize.

Chapter 9

  • Here’s another example: can you divide a cake into 3 equal portions, by only cutting intoquarters?

Chapter 10

  • (Still shaky about exactly howdxcan appear and disappear? You’re in good company. This question took top mathematicians decades to resolve.Here’sa deeper discussion of how the theory works.)

Chapter 14

  • You can check your answers with Wolfram Alpha, such asd/dx x^4.

Chapter 15

  • And by thePythagorean theorem, we have a connection between the x-position of the plate, and its height.

  • 你觉得这很辛苦吗?你不知道。That one-line computation took Archimedes, one of the greatest geniuses of all time, tremendous effort tofigure out. He had to imagine some spheres, and a cylinder, and some cones, and a fulcrum, and imagine them balancing and… let’s just say when he found the formula, he had it written on his grave. Your current intuition would have saved him incredible effort (see thisvideo).

  • 哇,太快了!我们的变形顺序(周长→面积→体积→表面面积)使最后一步变得简单。We could try to spin a circumference into surface area directly, but it’smore complex.

Study Guide

  • Elementary Calculus: An Infinitesimal Approachby Jerome Keisler (2002). This book is based on infinitesimals (an alternative to limits, which I like) and has plenty of practice problems. Available in print or free online.

  • Calculus Made Easyby Silvanus Thompson (1914). This book follows the traditional limit approach, and is written in a down-to-earth style. Available on Project Gutenberg and print.

  • MIT 1801: Single Variable Calculus. Includes video lectures, assignments, exams, and solutions. Available free online.