This text is much more clear than Thomas's Calculus, because of examples that take you through the important steps of the problems. Sometimes a step will be left out in the example, but usually it's something from trig or pre-calc. The use of graphics in the examples are very helpful as well; the important theorems are boxed/highlighted, as are useful tips to solving the problems.

The exercise problems at the end of each section are never huge surprises. As for their difficulty, they tend to start out easy and end with the more challenging word problems. When I was confused or frustrated, it helped to go back and re-read the examples. The Thomas text's examples were extremely difficult (for us non-MIT math students) and unrelated/inconsistent with the exercises.

I'd say that this book made calculus less scary and much more managable. I still had to study really hard to ace the class, but at least it wasn't because the book was overly confusing.

Had the earlier editon

Rating: 5/5

All I know that this is the BEST OF THE BEST books in Calculus around. I learned my algebra from one of their algebra books too. Larsen and his collegues just seem to have that special talent in writing EXCELLENT calculus textbooks that everyone can understand from.

It is expensive but IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY.

This is the REAL CALCULUS TEXTBOOK. It is way better than that overrated piece of garbage calculus textbook written by that overrated author James Stewart

You want a good calculus book? Larsen and Hostetler Calculus textbook is simply the best hands down. I strongly feel that this new editon is no different than the earlier editions that were of excellent quality

Refer to other editions 0618141804

Rating: 5/5

Checkout the 7th edition without a CD. Slightly different listing. Copied below....
* Hardcover: 182 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 11.25 x 1.75 x 9.00
* Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company; 7th edition (July 1, 2001)
* ASIN: 0618141804
* In-Print Editions: Hardcover (7th Bk&Cdr) | Paperback (4th) | All Editions
* Average Customer Review: Based on 16 reviews. Write a review.
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: 857,204
(Publishers and authors: improve your sales)