Any rigorous single variable calculus books that don't cost an arm and a leg?

Question

The names that get mentioned the most are Apostol and Spivak, but they go for roughly 200$. Is there nothing in the two digits? What's wrong with these people?

Answer 1

You can get a paperback of Joe Kitchen's Calculus for $37.

This book is on the level of the ones by spivak, courant, and apostol, and is very modern, having been written in the 1960's, by a Harvard instructor whose evaluation summary said; "A large minority of professor Kitchen's students believe that he is God." One interesting topic is a discussion of how one can do all the usual applications of integrals without the integral, i.e. simply using antidifferentiation, i.e. the mean value theorem. this is an outstanding book, written with imagination and skill, and completely rigorous in theoretical detail.

https://www.amazon.com/Calculus-one-variable-Joseph-Kitchen/dp/B007SZX5PM

I think Dover is in the process of reissuing it - if so it will be reasonable. You could query them.

Answer 2

Yes, the Apostol price is outrageous. Still, there are plenty of moderately priced alternatives. To mention a few of the better known (all prices as per Amazon USA):

• Rudin, Principles of Mathematical Analysis,, for $31 dollars and change (I wonder about this one; it seems a bit too good);

• Courant and John, Introduction to Calculus and Analysis, Vol. 1, $56;

• Abbott, Understanding Analysis, $47;

• Thomson, Bruckner, and Bruckner, Elementary Real Analysis, $34, or online free.