Advice on Calculus

[AcidThinking]

I am facing a problem with Calculus books: they're too big and quite easy. I don't have the time to go over a big book and I know I will be able to easily solve most of its problems without pain.

So would there be a condensed/consice book that contains much harder calculus problems than the ones in a usual calculus textbook?

Please help.

[dasgut]

Have you tried Apostol's books yet?

[yoyobarn]

I found Spivak's Calculus book very challenging.
(http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Michael- ... 0914098896)

It is rather big though. (in size and thickness)

[AcidThinking]

I still didn't take a look at Apostol's but did look at Spivak's. It seems pretty good, exactly between the basic calculus and real analysis one sees later. Pretty helpful. But it doesn't contain advanced multivariable calculus.

[yoyobarn]

I read Multivariable Calculus: Early Transcendentals by James Stewart.

(http://www.amazon.com/Multivariable-Cal ... 0534417787)

The difficulty and rigour isn't on the level of Spivak though.

[Ell]

What about Thomas' Calculus, eleventh edition? It's what we used for the calculus sequence. Is it enough for the math GRE test if I cover it all, or do I need to supplement it with more books?

[yoyobarn]

I think Thomas' Calculus should be enough for the calculus part of GRE. Might need to supplement another book for differential equations though.

[sywisy]

OP, what's your goal? If you're looking for difficult problems in calculus that aren't analysis heavy, pick up an advanced EM text like Griffiths/Jackson or look at old Putnams.

But... self-study is hard, don't think you'll get anywhere unless you are dedicated and plan out your work carefully.