Sheldon Axler's Precalculus: A Prelude to Calculus, 3rd Editionfocuses only on topics that students actually need to succeed in calculus. This book is geared towards courses with intermediate algebra prerequisites and it does not assume that students remember any trigonometry. It covers topics such as inverse functions, logarithms, half-life and exponential growth, area, e, the exponential function, the natural logarithm and trigonometry.
Dr. Sheldon Axler is the dean of the College of Science and Engineering at San Francisco State University in California. He has received over a dozen awards, grants, and fellowships from different organizations including the M.I.T. Teaching Award, National Science Foundation ILI Grant, and the National Science Foundation Research Grants. He had published extensively in journals and has three other books to his name.
New to Edition
The section on transformations of trigonometric functions has been moved to Chapter 5.
What are now Chapters 6 and 7 were in the reverse order in the previous edition; Chapter 7 has a new title.
Definition boxes, result boxes, learning objectives boxes, and example label boxes have been revised.
Numerous improvements have been made throughout the text based upon suggestions from faculty and students who used the previous edition.
New exercises have been added in almost all sections. The Appendix now includes worked-out solutions to the Appendix’s exercises.
Features
Manageable Size: Even with a student solutions manual included, the text is shorter and more concise than other Precalculus books. It is also cost-effective for students because they do not have to purchase a separate solutions manual.
Flexible and Abundant Topics: The text is not overloaded with extraneous topics.
Made to be Read: The writing style and layout are meant to encourage students to read and understand the material. Explanations are plentiful with descriptions of concepts making the ideas concrete whenever possible.
Technology Optional: To aid instructors in presenting the kind of course they want, an icon appears next to exercises and problems that require students to use a calculator. Some exercises and problems that require a calculator are intentionally designed to make students realize that by understanding the material, they can overcome the limitations of calculators.
Worked-Out Solutions to Odd-Numbered Exercises: These solutions are written exclusively by the author. Therefore students can expect a consistent approach to the material.
