
Introduction to Calculus (2016) - js2
https://arachnoid.com/calculus/index.html
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lokedhs
I didn't find this document to be easier to understand than any other guide
I've seen. I'd say the introduction to calculus in Susskind's The Theoretical
Minimum to be vastly better.

Also, don't miss The Essence Of Calculus by 3blue1brown:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHQObOWTQDMsr9K-rj53...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHQObOWTQDMsr9K-rj53DwVRMYO3t5Yr)

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whitepoplar
I found Paul's Notes
([http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/](http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/))
invaluable while I was taking calculus in college (not with Paul, or at Lamar,
but his notes are the best).

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edtechdev
Calculus in 20 minutes video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5GmSYipz6A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5GmSYipz6A)

More seriously though, I like the intuitive explanations and analogies used at
BetterExplained:
[https://betterexplained.com/calculus/](https://betterexplained.com/calculus/)

Otherwise, you're just memorizing formulas you don't really understand and
will forget eventually.

~~~
Koshkin
On the other hand, a lot of things (not just in math) we think we understand
are, in fact, simply memorized. And, by the way, that is not a bad thing - it
is better to learn the multiplication table, for example, than to fail to
"understand" it and give up. You can work on true understanding later; my
advice, therefore, is to read as much as possible on a topic, however
incomprehensible it may seem at first, just to get used to it and to make it
look familiar, and do some exercises. You will soon feel that you understand
something (even though you don't). That's the way we humans learn.

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nso95
The early 1900s book “Calculus Made Easy” is a really good intro to calculus.

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iamcreasy
This book is amazing. But I'd suggest everybody to read the version edited by
Martin Gardner in 1998[1]. The first version written by Thompson ignored the
use of limit, and it also used terms that aren't used anymore. For example,
the older book used the term 'differential coefficient' which is now known as
derivatives[2].

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Made-Easy-Silvanus-
Thompson/...](https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Made-Easy-Silvanus-
Thompson/dp/0333772431)

[2] More about the difference between old and the new book
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus_Made_Easy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus_Made_Easy)

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juliend2
I find it a bit paradoxical that those articles that aim to make calculus more
approachable to everyday people are always assuming that those very people
already know what the Sigma symbol means, or what
[that]([http://juliendesrosiers.ca/uploaded/weird-math-
symbol.png](http://juliendesrosiers.ca/uploaded/weird-math-symbol.png)) math
symbol means. I see the author in this case is defining the delta and
approximately-equal symbols, but I see quite a few non-obvious symbols in this
article.

Maybe it's because I'm canadian or that I have not studied advanced
mathematics in high-school?

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Diobo1000
I'm in highschool in Canada and can confirm that we have covered both of those
symbols.

~~~
juliend2
Thanks for the confirmation.

Maybe it's just that I don't remember. Or maybe it's that I was in an advanced
math class.

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kyberias
It wouldn't be that hard to make this HTML to make it much more accessible.
Reading PDF on screen is horror.

~~~
cuckcuckspruce
The author explains his reasoning for PDF for this document here:
[https://arachnoid.com/latex/why_latex_pdf.html](https://arachnoid.com/latex/why_latex_pdf.html).

The author also has a Hacker News profile:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lutusp](https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lutusp)

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niklasd
I think it gives a very good overview of calculus. It starts right at the
beginning with a easy to understand explanation of integrating and
differentiation and is fun to read – thank you!

