For students who are already fluent with single-variable derivatives and integrals, this workbook offers practice with essential skills from multivariable calculus (including vector calculus). Each chapter begins with a review of the essential ideas and includes fully solved examples to help serve as a guide. The full solution to every exercise can be found at the back of the book. Authored by experienced teacher, Chris McMullen, Ph.D., this self-study math workbook covers:
- partial derivatives
- extreme values with multiple variables (including saddle points)
- vectors, vector analysis (such as the dot and cross products), and vector calculus
- the gradient, divergence, and curl
- the main coordinate systems: Cartesian, 2D polar, spherical, and cylindrical
- path integrals, surface integrals, and volume integrals
- flux integrals, center of mass, and moment of inertia
- tangent and normal vectors
- and more
The author, Chris McMullen, Ph.D., has over twenty years of experience teaching math skills to physics students. He prepared this workbook of the Improve Your Math Fluency series to share his strategies for solving calculus problems with multiple variables or vectors.
This one in particular covers a great range of topics, from the multi variable chain rule, to surface and volume integrals. Most importantly, every step in every calculation is shown, as well as alternative forms of the solutions.
Examples of exactly the types of questions asked all have steps, reasons for whats being done, and solutions. If definitely recommend this if you're looking to learn and improve your calculus skills.
One important note is that the focus is on learning the content, so there are not a massive amount of problems per chapter. Usually about 8 to 12.
This is very much like all the authors other workbooks, inexpensive and a tremendous way to consolidate knowledge aquired elsewhere.
Very high value for money....after all, what is the point of LEARNING about multivariable calculus, if you cannot actually DO it.
Someone else said (in German) that this book is all about calculations, methods, and procedures, not proofs. That is true, it's not an analysis book.
All the books by this author are fantastic and well organized and well explained with very low price despite the high quality of the book.