Elementary Analysis: The Theory of Calculus

by Kenneth A. Ross

Book Overview

For over three decades, this best-selling classic has been used by thousands of students in the United States and abroad as a must-have textbook for a transitional course from calculus to analysis. It... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038790459X
• ISBN13: 9780387904597
• Release Date: March 1980
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent text on elementary real analysis

This book is very understandable and the presentation is very clear. There are many worked out examples to illustrate the theory , and many of the excersises come with complete solutions. Considering how difficult the topic of real analysis can be for university students, I strongly recommend this book for anyone that need to take an introductory real analysis text, it is also a good prep. text for anyone that plans to study the Rudin text on real analyis. I have been a full time university math tutor since 1994 and I think this is one of the few texts that actually "tutors" the student into understanding the foundations of real analysis.

The Book Needs To Be Judged For What It's INTENDED For..................

I don't understand people that constantly knock this book.The vicious barrage of critisms levied against this text is usually by arrogant math majors at top level schools.Thier attitude is basically that,"If Rudin is too hard for you,you are too dumb to learn this,get over it." You know,the first edition of Rudin was written over 4 decades ago, when calculus was usually first exposed to high school students on a regular basis and eplison-delta proofs were not uncommon in a college level calculus course.Therefore,after a meaty,theoretical calculus course that taught limits,derivatives and integrals carefully in addition to related rates,differential equations and the applications that today's watered-down calculus courses laughingly consider mathematics,those students of past generations were READY for something brutally terse like Rudin.The sad truth is that in today's pathetically dumbed down mathematics eduation system in the US-where high schools are happy if they can get students to use thier CALCULATORS to add and subtract correctly-Rudin or Apostol are simply way past the preparation level of any but the best students after calculus.The need for a "bridge" course that gave students the minimum exposure to a hard core approach to calculus was realized in the early 1980's-and Ross' book is still,to me,the best of the lot.Not only does Ross explain basic concepts well such as limits,convergence and the Riemann integral-he does something most textbooks on analysis and calculus sadly lack and to me is essential for a beginner:tons and TONS of worked examples given immediately after a definition.Proving theorums in rigorous mathematics-and real analysis in particular-is to a large degree the generalization of concrete examples.Ross's examples are wonderfully chosen and illustrate each concept wonderfully-after studying each example and then working the problems at the end of each section-which are terrific and just the right level for a beginner-the perfect foundation will be laid for further study in analysis in Rudin,Pugh or Apostol.(In many ways,while we're on the subject-I feel Charles Chapman Pugh's REAL MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS has made Rudin obsolete.Pugh's book is just as challenging,just as complete as Rudin's-but it is a WHOLE lot more user friendly.To me,this is the perfect next step after Ross.) The more advanced texts given above sadly do not provide examples.Using Ross to supply those examples as collateral reading for either an honors calculus course or a real analysis course would be a VERY helpful strategy for the education of beginners in analysis.Lastly-the book is exactly what the title says it it:The complete structure of calculus laid bare.For students looking towards graduate school in mathematics,many of them have a great deal of difficulty mastering calculus,even after advanced study in real analysis,due to the fact that the abstract view they've acquired clouds the forest for the trees.Ross will assist them greatly in seein

Wanna get started on real analysis? This is the one!!

I used this book in my junior year.It will be helpful to read this book if you have taken some sort of "proofs" class before. This book jumps straight into sequences and later on into series. So if you have had exposure to these concepts in some elementary calculus courses, then you will ease into the book very easily.This is a real math book, and so the book starts with axioms, then some definitions and then theorems and proofs. Ken also includes some sections on metric spaces and point-set topology, and shows how real analysis and the latter are inter related.However, it is not necessary to have had any point-set topology to follow the proofs.To get a full appreciation of the subject matter, it is a must to do the exercises, and Ken provides partial proofs in the back, ample examples in each section. This book is dull, if you'll let it be.There were times when I struggled with the matter, especially in the point-set topology sections, but in the end it paid off. I give it five stars. Money well spent!

Ross converges on readability

I used this book for the analysis sequence at cal poly for my undergraduate coursework. This is one of the best books i've read. In addition to the standard material for a two-quarter course, it concluded some nice topological supplementary like compactness, open/closed sets and continuity that got me interested in general topology. Included in the back are the much appreciated hints for the exercises. Excellent and radical approach to Riemann-Stielje Integrals in the integration section. Good for an intro. to proofs in general.

Raymond Cheng

The book is rigorously written and is extremely good for math majors. I don't think this book is very suitable for non-math majors however, since they might think it's too dull. The book does not go on and on like some math textbooks with non-essential talk. It gets into the material right the way. The proofs have been carefully chosen so that they're as simple and as elegant as possible. Topology is treated in optional sections, and the focus of the book is sequences. Indeed, the treatment of sequences is very thorough. Also, many notions are also defined in terms of sequences. However, proofs that this definition and the usual delta-epsilon definition are equivalent is given. The style of writing is clear, concise, and avoids uncessaary discussion. Proofs are given out in full and are seldom left to the readers as an exercise. In keeping with the style of this book, historical facts and references are not provided. I think this book should be a must-have for all math undergrads.