EUR 8.52 with 60 percent savings

Print List Price: EUR 21.32

You will be charged USD 9.99

Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Image Unavailable
Image not available for
Color:

Follow the author

Kalid Azad

Calculus, Better Explained: A Guide To Developing Lasting Intuition Kindle Edition

by Kalid Azad (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

(242)

See all formats and editions

Calculus, Better Explained is the calculus primer you wish you had in school.

Learn the essential concepts using concrete analogies and vivid diagrams, not mechanical definitions. Calculus isn't a set of rules, it's a specific, practical viewpoint we can apply to everyday thinking.

Frustrated With Abstract, Mechanical Lessons?

I was too. Despite years of classes, I didn't have a strong understanding of calculus concepts. Sure, I could follow mechanical steps, but I had no lasting intuition.

The classes I've seen are too long, taught in the wrong order, and without solid visualizations. Here's how this course is different:

1) It gets to the point. A typical class plods along, saving concepts like Integrals until Week 8. I want to see what calculus can offer by Minute 8. Each compact, tightly-written lesson can be read in 15 minutes.

2) Concepts are taught in their natural order. Most classes begin with the theory of limits, a technical concept discovered 150 years after calculus was invented. That's like putting a new driver into a Formula-1 racecar on day 1. We can begin with the easy-to-grasp concepts discovered 2000 years ago.

3) It has vivid analogies and visualizations. Calculus is usually defined as the "study of change"... which sounds like history or geology. Instead of an abstract definition, we'll see calculus a step-by-step viewpoint to explore patterns.

4) It's written by a human, for humans. I'm not a haughty professor or strict schoolmarm. I'm a friend who saw a fun way to internalize some difficult ideas. This course is a chat over coffee, not a keep-your-butt-in-your-seat lecture.

The goal is to help you grasp the Aha! moments behind calculus in hours, not a painful semester (or a decade, in my case).

Join Thousands Of Happy Readers

Here's a few samples of anonymous feedback as people went through the course. The material covers a variety of levels, whether you're looking for intuitive appreciation or the specifics of the rules.

"I've done all of this stuff before, and I do understand calculus intuitively, but this was the most fun I've had going through this kind of thing. The informal writing and multitude of great analogies really helps this become an enjoyable read and the rest is simple after that - you make this seem easy, but at the same time, you aren't doing it for us…This is what math education is supposed to be like :)"

"I have psychology and medicine background so I relate your ideas to my world. To me the most useful idea was what each circle production feels like. Rings are natural growth…Slices are automatable chunks and automation cheapens production… Boards in the shape on an Arch are psychologically most palatable for work (wind up, hard part, home stretch). Brilliant and kudos, from one INTP to another."

"I like how you're introducing both derivatives and integrals at the same time - it's really helps with understanding the relationship between them. Also, I appreciate how you're coming from such a different angle than is traditionally taken - it's always interesting to see where you decide to go next."

"That was breathtaking. Seriously, mail my air back please, I've grown used to it. Beautiful work, thank you. Lesson 15 was masterful. I am starting to feel calculus. "d/dx is good" (sorry, couldn't resist!)."

Accessibility

Learn more
Publication date

November 13, 2015
Language

English
File size

4.5 MB

See all details

Report an issue with this product or seller

This title is only available on select devices and the latest version of the Kindle app. Please refer to the supported device list before purchase. Available on these devices

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B017ZXWY3U
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 13, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4.5 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 87 pages
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #390,745 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #29 in Calculus (Kindle Store)
- #72 in Two-Hour Science & Math Short Reads
- #129 in Calculus (Books)
Customer Reviews:
(242)

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Kalid Azad

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Kalid Azad graduated from Princeton University and has been writing professionally for over a decade, from chapters in the best-selling "How to Program" textbooks (from Deitel, Inc.) to technical whitepapers for Microsoft, Corp. Kalid has tutored math since high school (99% percentile for SAT/GRE/GMAT) and is enamored with finding the clearest, most intuitive insights on seemingly-complicated topics. He founded betterexplained.com, which provides high-quality explanations to millions of readers each year. The site has been referenced in Science Magazine, dozens of university courses, and the blogs for the New York Times, The Atlantic, and Scientific American.

Similar brands on Amazon

Page 1 of 1Start Over

Customer reviews

242 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the book helps understand the fundamentals of calculus and provides new insights for explaining complex topics. Moreover, the content receives positive feedback, with one customer noting it serves as an excellent intro before taking calculus. Additionally, the book is praised for its simplicity, with one review highlighting its step-by-step unfolding of derivations with explanation. However, opinions on value for money are mixed, with some customers finding it worth the price while others disagree.

AI Generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

35 customers mention informative, 33 positive, 2 negative

Customers find the book informative, helping them understand the fundamentals of calculus and providing new insights for explaining complex topics.

...guide through Archimedes brilliant reasoning showing off Calculus as a useful and intuitive tool....Read more

Explains the why behind the math....Read more

It is a very informative book and has really helped in starting to understand Calculus.Read more

An excellent introduction and review of calculus fundamentals. Wish I had this book when I was first learning calculus.Read more

13 customers mention content, 13 positive, 0 negative

Customers find the content of the book great, with several praising Kalid's approach, and one noting it provides a fun way to think about mathematical concepts.

Great book!! Finally I understood the fundamentals of calculusRead more

...I am going to use this book in teaching, Kalid is awesome! Keep writing!Read more

Very good read. Helpful.Read more

This was a really good book helped me lots preparing for calc. Enjoyable to read. Not like a regular calc textbookRead more

13 customers mention simplicity, 11 positive, 2 negative

Customers appreciate the book's intuitive explanations and very simplified approach, with one customer noting the step-by-step unfolding of derivations and another highlighting the use of diagrams.

...brilliant reasoning showing off Calculus as a useful and intuitive tool....Read more

I very much enjoyed the simplicity of this book. It was easy to understand and it helped me appreciate the topic more.Read more

Great introduction to calculus! Not too detailed but not too sparse either....Read more

...book on math -- helps to build the intuition about calculus with lots of diagrams and step by step unfolding of derivations with explanation.Read more

6 customers mention value for money, 2 positive, 4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's value for money, with some finding it worth the price while others feel it does not justify the cost.

...Very very short book. A bit pricey for the content.Read more

...Although his course is available online, I felt it was easily worth the price to buy the kindle version.Read more

Not worth the costRead more

...Which is fine, except for it's costing you about 30 cents per page, and trust me, the ideas are NOT that good....Read more

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

T. McG.
Indispensable
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

After learning Euler's Formula from Kalid's indispensable site, BetterExplained.com, I became intrigued by Euler and decided to look into his solution to the Basel Problem. With what I knew at the time, I could understand everything except the expansion of sin(x), which Euler introduces as a lemma. It turns out that this infinite series, originally discovered by Newton, is one of the results of calculus, which I knew nothing about. So I made learning calculus my next project.

I can't say that it was easy, but Kalid made it possible. Kalid is like everyone's personal tutor, answering questions on his site and providing encouragement when needed. His book is a great introduction, but if you're anything like me, you'll also have to refer to other sources. As a primer, the book doesn't get around to explaining the sine series, which is what I set out to understand. His site, however, does a brilliant job of bringing it alive. It's the most dynamic interpretation I have yet to come across, and it shows how calculus developed in ways that not even Newton could foresee.

Read more

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
David S. Saunders
An enjoyable guide to calculus
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
One thing that I remember most about this book is the excellent use of illustrations to explain concepts. From the very first chapter, the author seeks to find very accessible ways to explain concepts without obfuscating the fact that this is still a book about math. It's filled with plenty of excellent visuals and concrete examples aimed at helping you have a better understanding of what calculus is. If you're already a straight up Jedi in the world of math, maybe you would find this book remedial, but if you enjoy math and look at calculus as though you aren't really appreciating it for what it is, then this book might help you fully love calculus.

Read more

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Dr. Nancy L. Nicholson
Unusual to enjoy calculus! Great connections to more reading!
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
What fun as a way to think about thingsI I was bored out of my mind in high school calculus several decades ago and fled the scene to geometries. I wish someone back in those days could have made the promise of analytical geometry come to life. The author does this with humor and looks at cool things that often hide in plain sight. If you want to see how the calculus approach led to innovation in thermodynamics (and a Nobel Prize in chemical thermodynamics), read the OMNI Magazine article May 1983 by Ilya Prigogine (available on Kindle). Further, as there is deep pattern here for those with that inclination, Amazon has a copy of "Tilings & Patterns" by Grunbaum and Shepherd that is perfect for investigating imaginary numbers, fractals or just wallpapering your brain.

Read more

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Brian Weeks
Don't buy if you'll be reading on your phone...
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2015
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
The equations are all image files that can't be resized. These images are all way smaller than the text. This is impossible to read on my phone (Samsung Galaxy), which is my primary kindle device.

The sections I've read off of Kalid's website are well written and well explained. I was excited to read the whole thing cover to cover. I'd buy a hard cover version to get around the kindle problems.

In short, the book is great but the formatting is terrible if you have a small screen. This is something that the publishers or Amazon should try to address... But I doubt Amazon will rework their software to allow image re-sizing any time soon.

EDIT: I tried reading this book on a 12 inch screen and there too the images were all very small... maybe 6 or 8 point.

Read more

23 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Matthew Jeffery
Great introduction or complement to a calculus course!
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Great introduction to calculus! Not too detailed but not too sparse either. This is definitely an aid to a calculus course, not a substitute, but it provides some interesting perspectives that an instructor might or might not cover. Bringing the idea of why calculus works rather than just saying is does, and providing concrete, physical analogies to the picture is this book's strength.

Read more

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Nasser Al-Manji
Excellent book
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Still in the beginning chapters. Khalid tries to explain hundreds of years old science in 'different' way. Most traditional books cover the subject using todays common analysis without delving to the root of these anlaysis tools. This might give the reader 'baseline' view of the subject rather than a 'general' view. A general view help students to be able to apply the tools generally when applicable.
Khalid 'different' view might be helpful to some readers who find themselves reading a tradiotional calculus book more of a technicla listing of formulas.

Read more

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Roberto Rigolin F Lopes
Showing off Calculus as a useful and intuitive tool
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2016
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
About 2200 years ago, Archimedes figured out the formulas for area and volume of a sphere. The man was genius but this challenge probably took quite a bit of his brainpower. Nowadays anyone can replicate his "Aha!" moments using Calculus + computers. This book is a guide through Archimedes brilliant reasoning showing off Calculus as a useful and intuitive tool. Kalid shares ingenious analogies to explain differentiation/integration refreshing your view of Calculus. The whole thing is an exciting show that may ignite further studies.

Read more

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
I wear MOM Jeans
Where was this when I was in school?!
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
In school I was just going through the motions, memorizing formulas and not really understanding what everything meant. This book is a life saver! It explains everything perfectly and now when a child says but why? and what does that number represent? bla bla bla I can explain it so easily! Thank you Mr. Azad!

Read more

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Holland
EXCELLENT
Reviewed in Canada on December 18, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If this man wrote a textbook I would buy it in a heartbeat.
Explained and presented thoroughly that almost anybody could understand.

Read more
Report
Amazon Customer
Good one
Reviewed in India on October 20, 2022
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Good one

Read more
Report
Ingrid Johnston
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Good, thanks.

Read more
Report
nutzerin
Mathe intuitiv, so dass es JEDEM sprichwörtlich sofort einleuchtet. Dieser Ansatz sollte DER Ansatz werden!
Reviewed in Germany on October 1, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Wer auf der Suche nach einem Ansatz ist, wie man Mathematik intutiv versteht, für den ist Kalid Azad der richtige Lehrer. Selbst wenn man das Thema schon formelbasiert / theoretisch verstanden hat, für den eröffnet Azads Ansatz neue Welten des Verständnisses. Plötzlich leuchtet das Thema mit einem "Klick" ein! Dieser Ansatz sollte überall genutzt werden - er ist einfach genial!!! Und er macht unglaublich viel Spass!!! Ich kann das Buch nur jedem empfehlen, Und weil es so einleuchtend und auf Anhieb verständlich ist (man braucht weder Vorkenntnisse noch ein mathematisches Verständnis) ist es so empfehlenswert. Man MUSS es gelesen haben, selbst wenn man gar nicht so matheinteressiert ist, einfach weil es so genial gemacht ist!! Jeder, der das Buch liest, versteht, was damit gemeint ist!

Read more
Report
Translate review to English
Cliente Amazon
Deludente, restituito
Reviewed in Italy on February 2, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Libro scritto in modo molto approssimativo. Il linguaggio è impreciso e poco efficace, non per voglia di semplificazione, ma per scarsa capacità comunicativa e divulgativa. Libro inutile per esperti, inutile per principianti. Qualità tipografica molto scarsa. Inaccetabile un prezzo così alto per un prodotto così scadente. Dopo averlo sfogliato e aver letto l'introduzione ho deciso di restituirlo poiché era del tutto al di sotto delle mie aspettative.
Stesso parere per un altro testo dell'autore comprato e restituito: Math better explained

Read more
Report
Translate review to English

Buy as Gift

How it works

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

Calculus, Better Explained: A Guide To Developing Lasting Intuition Kindle Edition

See all supported devices

Kindle E-Readers

Fire Tablets

Free Kindle Reading Apps

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customers also bought or read

Product details

Videos

About the author

Kalid Azad

Similar brands on Amazon

Customer reviews

Customers say

Select to learn more

Images in this review

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT

5.0 out of 5 stars Good one

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

5.0 out of 5 stars Mathe intuitiv, so dass es JEDEM sprichwörtlich sofort einleuchtet. Dieser Ansatz sollte DER Ansatz werden!

1.0 out of 5 stars Deludente, restituito

Report an issue

EXCELLENT

Good one

Five Stars

Mathe intuitiv, so dass es JEDEM sprichwörtlich sofort einleuchtet. Dieser Ansatz sollte DER Ansatz werden!

Deludente, restituito