DIV, Grad, Curl, & All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus: Amazon.ca: Harry M. Schey, H. M. Schey: Books

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4.8 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A must for engineering and science students., July 15 2003

By

James Arvo (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: DIV, Grad, Curl, & All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus (Paperback)

If you are an undergraduate engineering or science major, then you need to get a copy of this old classic and become good friends with it. If you are a graduate student or a professional in some branch of engineering or science, and you have not already read this book, then sneak out and get a copy before anybody finds out. (You can pretend that you really knew this stuff all along.) Seriously, this book should be considered Math 101 for scientists and engineers. You simply cannot get by without knowing the basics of vector calculus, curvilinear coordinates, Gauss' law, Stokes' theorem, and of course, the protagonists Divergence, Gradient, and Curl, known to their friends as Div, Grad, and Curl.

This is about as tame a book on vector calculus as you could ever hope to meet, which is part of the reason it's been so popular for so long. It's very easy to read (as far as math texts go), it has many simple but effective illustrations, it has ample exercises (most of which have solutions in the back), and it avoids excessive formalism, instead focusing on the nuts-and-bolts of vector calculus as it most commonly arises in electrostatics, for example.

Math majors will not be so enamored of this book, simply because of its heuristic approach (hence the word "informal" in the subtitle) and its close ties with applications, which it uses as motivation. Moreover, Schey does not develop differential forms or exterior calculus, which logically subsume and extend the material in this book (at the expense of far greater abstraction, which the majority of engineering and science students will prefer to avoid or at least delay). Instructors, if you teach electrostatics or fluid dynamics, you may wish to consider having this as a supplementary text for your students. It's such a clear and helpful little book your students will really appreciate it. (But, you already knew that.)

Bottom line for engineering and science students: You need to know this material, and it simply won't get any easier than this. Don't wait for the audio edition!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Vector calculus presented from an applied approach, July 14 2003

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Sweetcheeks McMuffin (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: DIV, Grad, Curl, & All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus (Paperback)

If you've taken (or are in the process of taking) vector calculus (whether an intro in multivariable calculus or as a class itself) this book is indispensible for support.

It's best feature is the fact that physics and engineering students can benefit from it's applied viewpoint, specifically on electric charge, potential. etc.

The title of the book is established quite well in that this book is a relatively light read and that the reader will be able to comprehend vector calculus with an understanding of why scientists use vector calc in the first place.

Overall, an excellent read with the answers to selected exercises placed in the back allow the reader to monitor learning.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book to brush up your Vector Calculus, Jun 18 2003

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A. Mathew (Newark, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: DIV, Grad, Curl, & All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus (Paperback)

This little book is a real gem! For a long time till I read this I had been left confused and puzzled about the physical intuition behind these ubiquitous vector operations. [btw, even today I don't claim to be a god of Vector Calculus ;)] This little book is a very handy book to flip through in such a case to clear up some of the concepts you failed to grasp during your college lectures... It keeps a good balance between providing the intuition in the form of examples from Physics [Electric Field mostly], as well as pretty-rigorous math [If not 100% hard core rigorous] as well as the geometric insight that is so necesary to appreciate the usefulness of these concepts.
The fact that it is a small volume, and the light and easy going style of it's prose makes for great positives.
The problems given at the end of each chapter are also adequately challenging.
On the whole a very nice book. Highly recommended.

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