In this post, I’d like to talk about a Math book that teaches Calculus which was written more than 100 years ago. Before that let me tell you why I chose this book specifically.

Advanced Math concepts like Calculus are not everyone’s cup of tea. Words like differentiation, Integrals, and Limits might sound daunting to most people at first. Especially with all the formulae one needs to remember. However instead of getting into the habit of remembering these formulae, one needs to understand the intuition behind it. Unfortunately, this kind of intuitive learning is not what’s being taught at schools. Instead, formulae and equations are crammed into students just so that they can move on to their next class.

A couple of years ago I came across a book that teaches Calculus recommended to me by a friend. I need to study Calculus again at that time mainly because of a career change in my field. However, I want to develop an intuition for it instead of just remembering the equations. The name of the Book is Calculus Made Easy: Silvanus P Thompson.

Although I was a bit skeptical at first because of how old this book is, reading this book was one of the best decisions I made. The author’s simple English joined with clear explanations made life easier for me. Thanks to that I was able to finish this book in less than a week thanks to the Pomodoro Technique and was able to solve some complex Calculus math problems easily.

For example, do you know what the word “differentiation” means? Well, I first learned through that book that it means a “little part of”. So, when we say “differentiation of x” or “dx”, it just means “a little bit of x”. Brilliant isn’t it? Well, all of the lessons in that book are easy to understand and mainly help in developing a sense of intuition for it.

So, if you or your kid by any chance want to get better or even get started with Calculus, I really, really recommend this book. It’s easy to read because of the simple language. You can read or download this book for free here. Only 150 pages to read. If you prefer a hard copy, it is readily available to buy on Amazon.