I bought this book as a refresher since it had been 4 years since I last did any kind of formal calculus class. For that purpose (use as a refresher) this is really a superb text. It offered a quick, plain English summary of a one year high school calc course (Calc AB AP) or a one semester college course (Calc 1 or equivalent). I doubt one could learn single variable calculus from this book alone, but it could also work as a nice supplement for understanding the main concepts of a first year calculus course.
With the exception of one of the later chapters entitled "Integration for Experts", I was able to follow all of the material in the book on first read, making it true to its "For Dummies" moniker. So, again, this is not a book for complete calculus neophytes, but rather a helpful piece of review material or supplemental coverage.
To math-sciences students, Read this book, then read Thompson's Calculus made easy, then Calculus II for dummies. After you grab perfect, or at least fair knowledge of the previous books, read "University calculus" by Hass-Weir. That should be enough to make you grasp perfect knowledge of the subject with the least complications along the way. With well-grounded knowledge in Algebra-based Physics, you're ready for the glory of seeking after new equations, theories, and making history.
I dont like this phrase,"If you’re still reading, I presume you survived differentiation (Chapters 4–7)". author understand that he can't explain all of it calculus constructions for dummies. But in the first chapter all going very well, i'm desolee that this easy pattern lost in next chapters
There is no chance anyone can learn even the fundamental concepts of Calculus by reading this book. The complete version of Calculus for Dummies may not be perfect but it's better than this one.