Active Calculus Multivariable

Reviewed by James Collins, Assistant Professor, University of Mary Washington on 4/9/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book covers most areas of multivariate calculus. However, certain areas, such as Divergence Theorem, and Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals is not included in the book. I am told it will be added in later additions though.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found this book very accurate with few errors

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

I don't imagine this book will need updating anytime soon, as Calculus will not be changing. Any updates will simply be to improve the activities, not the material itself.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is very clear and easy to understand. The author specifically avoids any confusing mathematical notation in an attempt to make the material accessible.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is very consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

This book does an incredibly good job of subdividing the various sections into subsections. The author of the book has his students read certain sections before class, as do I. It is very easy to tell students to read through this section of the book. Each subsection within a section is usually around a page.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I particularly like how one section flows into the next, telling one coherent story.

Interface rating: 5

The online version of this text was very helpful to demonstrate visual elements of the material to the class. With multivariate in particular, the visual elements are complex and hard to draw for those of us with little drawing skill. It was helpful to have various graphs online to demonstrate ideas to the students.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I found no grammatical errors in my using of the book.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The author uses both male and female pronouns where applicable, though pronouns in general are not used often.

Comments

I have used this book for Multivariate Calculus and enjoyed it very much. It is important to stick to doing the activities and having students do the preview activities before class. Some students have trouble using this book as a standalone book, as it is very different from what they are used to. It may be helpful to pair it with a more traditional free textbook, such as APEX.