"Speaking as a math prof: No. No. NO. It is a ripoff of our students, pure and simple."
As a math prof, which texts(old or new) do you think are good? (fwiw I like Spivak)
As a math prof, which texts(old or new) do you think are good? (fwiw I like Spivak)
The book itself http://djm.cc/library/Calculus_Made_Easy_Thompson.pdf
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus_Made_Easy
It gives you a working knowledge to get going with almost any practical problem you may encounter that needs to be approached with mahtematical analysis.
I would say that Spivak books are more about learning the culture of working mathematicians, and while with its merits one must be careful with commitment of investing her personal time to it.
Also, here is a great page to learn about good (and usually public) books for different branches of mathematics and physics by a Nobel-winning theoretical physicist G. t'Hooft http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~hooft101/theorist.html
I don't have a favorite yet; Thomas was good, I expect to also like Stewart (which I am using for this first time this fall). As is typical, the math department as a whole chooses which book to use.
I'm not familiar with the `aristocratic' books (Spivak, Apostol), but I have heard they are excellent. I don't need to learn calculus anymore :) -- but I will check them out if I ever teach an honors class.