2nd Edition

Functions of Two Variables

By Sean Dineen Copyright 2000
    208 Pages 95 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    208 Pages
    by Chapman & Hall

    208 Pages 95 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    Multivariate calculus, as traditionally presented, can overwhelm students who approach it directly from a one-variable calculus background. There is another way-a highly engaging way that does not neglect readers' own intuition, experience, and excitement. One that presents the fundamentals of the subject in a two-variable context and was set forth in the popular first edition of Functions of Two Variables.

    The second edition goes even further toward a treatment that is at once gentle but rigorous, atypical yet logical, and ultimately an ideal introduction to a subject important to careers both within and outside of mathematics. The author's style remains informal and his approach problem-oriented. He takes care to motivate concepts prior to their introduction and to justify them afterwards, to explain the use and abuse of notation and the scope of the techniques developed.

    Functions of Two Variables, Second Edition includes a new section on tangent lines, more emphasis on the chain rule, a rearrangement of several chapters, refined examples, and more exercises. It maintains a balance between intuition, explanation, methodology, and justification, enhanced by diagrams, heuristic comments, examples, exercises, and proofs.

    Functions from R2 to R
    Partial Derivatives
    Critical Points
    Maxima and Minima
    Saddle Points
    Sufficiently Regular Functions
    Linear Approximation
    Tangent Lines
    Method and Examples of Lagrange Multipliers
    Theory and Examples of Lagrange Multipliers
    Tangent Planes
    The Chain Rule
    Directed Curves
    Curvature
    Quadratic Approximation
    Vector Valued Differentiation
    Complex Analysis
    Line Integrals
    The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
    Double Integrals
    Coordinate Systems
    Green's Theorem
    Solutions
    Index

    Biography

    Sean Dineen

    "The whole text is nicely written, and can be strongly recommended as an excellent and comprehensive source, suitable for self-study or classroom use at the undergraduate level. For students demanding motivation, its study will be a rewarding experience."
    -European Mathematical Society Newsletter, December 2002