The Manga Guide to Calculus |  | Authors: Hiroyuki Kojima, Shin Togami, Becom Co. Ltd., Kojima Hiroyuki, Togami Shin, Becom Ltd.
Publisher: No Starch Press
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.84
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 34206
Media: Paperback
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7 x 0.7
ISBN: 1593271948
Dewey Decimal Number: 515
EAN: 9781593271947
ASIN: 1593271948
Publication Date: August 12, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Noriko is just getting started as a junior reporter for the Asagake Times. She wants to cover the hard-hitting issues, like world affairs and politics, but does she have the smarts for it? Thankfully, her overbearing and math-minded boss, Mr. Seki, is here to teach her how to analyze her stories with a mathematical eye. In The Manga Guide to Calculus, you'll follow along with Noriko as she learns that calculus is more than just a class designed to weed out would-be science majors. You'll see that calculus is a useful way to understand the patterns in physics, economics, and the world around us, with help from real-world examples like probability, supply and demand curves, the economics of pollution, and the density of Shochu (a Japanese liquor). Mr. Seki teaches Noriko how to: - Use differentiation to understand a function's rate of change
- Apply the fundamental theorem of calculus, and grasp the relationship between a function's derivative and its integral
- Integrate and differentiate trigonometric and other complicated functions
- Use multivariate calculus and partial differentiation to deal with tricky functions
- Use Taylor Expansions to accurately imitate difficult functions with polynomials
Whether you're struggling through a calculus course for the first time or you just need a painless refresher, you'll find what you're looking for in The Manga Guide to Calculus. This EduManga book is a translation from a bestselling series in Japan, co-published with Ohmsha, Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
 Worthwhile read November 11, 2009
Brian (USA)
Upon receiving this book, I was skeptical on its ability to teach a complex topic in a story format. Having learned Calculus in the "traditional way", I had doubts that reading about Calculus in a story format, let alone a comic book format, would lead to strong delivery of material. In the book, concepts are delivered in a conceptual way, tied down to a real life type example. In general, I feel these connections to real life concepts allow students to get a better intuition for material when they began to move into more abstract things later on in their mathematics career. The book does a good job of reviewing material discussed in the story in a more traditional, but still casual, form at the end of every chapter. It definitely delivers mathematical knowledge.
My major concern is the lack of attention to the exercises. There simply is not enough of them. In order to really drive home some of these concepts repetition is key, and there simply isn't enough exercises in the book to accomplish this.
Overall, this book is a good choice for someone who is looking to get an idea for the basics and get a few laughs along the way.
 Fun with Calculus October 30, 2009
Frank Mitch (Akron, Ohio USA)
Reviewed by Ken Rogers, GCPCUG Member
Calculus is about describing relationships, about demonstrating how you can start with x and end up with y. If y is a product, a function, of x, calculus provides the formula that explains this cause and effect relationship. Of course, cause and effect relationships aren't limited to the world of mathematics - but if you can produce a mathematical formula that accurately describes a real-world relationship (such as the effect of environmental change on crop production, or the impact of consumer spending on stock prices), you can predict the future outcome of current events, how x in the present will lead to y in the future.
This belief in calculus's ability to describe real-world relationships is at the heart of The Manga Guide to Calculus, another in No Starch Press's fascinating line of technical guides illustrated in manga, the distinctive Japanese style of cartooning. Like the other books in this series, the calculus guide does not shrink away from the complexity of its subject. If you have any hint of an inner math geek, you'll be delighted by the pages upon pages of formulas, graphs, and theorems in this book. Conversely, if you're looking for a light read or a dummy's guide to the subject, you probably won't appreciate what this book has to offer.
Also familiar to the series are the characters and plot devices that guide the reader through the subject. The book is told primarily through the perspective of Noriko, a young woman with a burning desire to become an influential journalist, but with no idea how to realize her dreams. Her first assignment has her working for Mr. Seki, an accomplished young journalist who has recently been demoted to the small branch office where Noriko gets her start. (Indulge me in a quick side comment - each of the three books I've read in this series has featured an ambitious but naïve female being instructed by a clearly brighter male . I won't meet anyone's definition of a feminist, but I do hope that subsequent books in this series will provide some variation on these roles. Thank you - now back to our regularly scheduled review.)
Noriko soon finds that Seki is not your typical journalist. Barely interested in writing style or interviewing techniques, Seki is an unapologetic math nerd (his colleagues dub him Mr. Calculus) who believes in the power of math to describe the workings of society - as he puts it, "if you can approximate what you want to know with a simple function, you can see the answer more clearly." Much to Noriko's surprise, Seki then trains her on the finer points of linear and approximate functions, differentiation and integration, exponential and logarithmic functions, and the fundamental theorems of calculus. To demonstrate math's real-world relevance, Seki explains formulas that describe how television commercials affect corporate profits, the appeal of choreography, the relationship between wages and stock dividends, and the appearance and movement of bubbles in carbonated beverages. In true manga fashion, the action is swift and fanciful, as Seki and Noriko quickly change their appearance or become part of the formulas they are explaining.
Noriko often explodes with anxiety and frustration, but she is a quick student who discovers the reason behind Seki's mysterious demotion. In keeping with the spirit of the book, she uses a mathematical function to show Seki how he can restore his reputation and career. While Seki is a fairly static character throughout the book - think of him as that staid but amiable teacher you remember from high school - Noriko is dynamic and engaging, a perfect guide and companion for the reader.
This book isn't for everyone - those who find math intimidating will be quickly overwhelmed, and those seeking a refresher course in calculus may find it incomplete - but for young readers with an interest in mathematics and an appreciation for comics, The Manga Guide to Calculus is highly recommended
The Manga of Calculus October 2, 2009
John Jacobson (Riverside CA USA)
Who would have expected that a complicated subject like calculus could be taught through manga illustrations?
The author uses a story about a young newspaper reporter in her first posting to show how calculus can bring enlightenment about many issues. The important areas of calculus are discussed, including differentiation, integration, Taylor expansions and partial differentiation. There is appropriate use of diagrams and graphs to illustrate some of the important points of the discussion. Trigonometry is also introduced through the lens of calculus. Many examples are given, there are also exercises with an included key. The number of exercises is insufficient for a textbook, for the serious student another source of practice exercises would be helpful. There is a four page index.
Some of the areas illustrated include:
using calculus to make economics choices
choosing how many commercials a company might choose to air to maximize profits
applications of anti-trust law in terms of calculus
making production line decisions to maximize profits
looking at the size of bubbles in a stein of beer
figuring out the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
This is an excellent text for the introduction of calculus to the student, and would also be excellent for review for those who wish to brush up on the principles of calculus.
Recommended
Recommended to help those college students accustomed to a largely on non-mathematical curriculum September 17, 2009
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Manga Guide to Calculus frames a solid and straightforward introduction to calculus with a black-and-white manga (Japanese comic story) about a junior reporter whose boss is instructing her in how to analyze her stories from a mathematical perspective. The result is a fluid primer that makes calculus as easy to follow and understand as possible. Chapters cover how to use differentiation to understand a function's rate of change, the relationship between a function's derivative and its integral, how to integrate and differentiate trigonometric and other complicated functions, use multivariate calculus and partial differentiation to approach complicated functions, and much more. An excellent, calculus-savvy and user-friendly guide for any student needing to brush up on their calculus, whether tackling a course for the first time or seeking a refresher. Highly recommended, particularly for public library collections (and college library collections - especially to help those college students accustomed to a largely on non-mathematical curriculum).
I love the connections that the examples make to clearly useful real life events August 22, 2009
M. Helmke
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
The Manga Guide to Calculus follows the actions of a young newspaper reporter, Noriko, who wants to cover the big stories, to be a hard-hitting reporter who uncovers and reveals hidden facts about world affairs, the economy, and politics. She is saddened to discover that she has been assigned to work a small post in a small area where she is unlikely to find stories bigger than the opening of a local amusement park or the improving reputation of a local watermelon grower.
However, her time is not wasted. The bureau chief is a lover of mathematics, and specifically calculus. Noriko is shocked to discover that calculus can help her become a better reporter by assisting her to discover trends in data that might otherwise have been overlooked.
This story line makes the discussion of very complex and sometimes difficult to grasp mathematical concepts much easier by framing the discussion in ways I have never seen. In my experience, a typical calculus class will start with mechanics like how to compute a derivative or somewhat esoteric sounding concepts like lines tangent to curves without giving a clear background as to why these things might be meaningful or useful. That usually comes much later, after a large number of students have been weeded out because of disinterest or an unwillingness to learn difficult concepts without knowing why they might be important.
What this book does better than any calculus book I have seen is give a context to the processes and concepts. The story line is enjoyable, but more importantly it serves the function of enabling a reader to understand how the mathematics help solve problems or answer questions that are useful and relatable. That in itself is a great and useful accomplishment and makes the book worthy of a recommendation.
The book covers a large number of concepts. As a result, none are covered in exhaustive depth. I would not consider this a primary text or useful for learning calculus alone, but rather as an accompaniment to a course, useful for review or assistance in understanding concepts as they are learned.
Some of the topics covered are using functions to approximate data, such as fluctations or trends in prices, calculating relative error and calculating the derivative of constant, linear, quadratic, composite, inverse and other functions. Norika learns how to use different techniques for differentiation while discovering the importance and usefulness of knowing the maxima and minima for a given formula. Not long after these and other foundational aspects are learned, Norika finds out about the fundamental theorem of calculus and learns to integrate using supply and demand curves and later trigonometric functions. Finally, she discovers Taylor Expansion, distributions, and partial differentiation, especially as applied to economics.
The book includes exercises in each section with solutions in the back of the book. Again, there aren't enough practice problems for this to be useful as a primary teaching text, but what is there is useful for confirming that the concept just discussed is clearly understood and would be helpful as a review.
I would have preferred to see more examples of calculus in use in other sciences, like physics, but this is a short book that is intended to be an overview of the topic and not an extensive or exhaustive presentation. It is also fair to note that the Manga Guide to Physics does use some calculus in it, although not much. These are books aimed at people finishing high school or just starting at the university and I think they hit their target well, confining themselves to discussions within well chosen boundaries to make sure that the intentionally and necessarily narrower set of concepts may be discussed clearly and completely enough for good understanding.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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