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Thanks for the list.

I have been on the lookout for a specific book I was suggested as a kid. This was when our high school Physics was traveling a few paces ahead of our mathematics curriculum.

All I remember is that the Indian paperback edition had a blue cover. It was very helpful.

I find it hard to understand the persistent calculus hate that I see on HN. For us it was a very enjoyable experience.

We learned it through two courses that sort of raced each other at a tepid pace -- high school Physics (especially dynamics) and high school mathematics.

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Try a google image search for something like "India Calculus book blue cover" (and similar phrases) and you might most probably find what you have been looking for.

When it comes to Calculus most people get traumatized due to the excessive rigor and abstraction many teachers/books start with in the beginning. There is the Heine discrete sequence approach that is far easier to understand (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49312120) than the standard epsilon-delta definition but for some reason it is not emphasized. Add the fact that many mindlessly recommend Spivak/Apostol etc. books which are highly rigorous and a beginning student is lost and starts to develop an aversion to the subject.

For some motivation see Everyday Calculus: Discovering the Hidden Math All around Us by Oscar Fernandez - https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691175751/ev...

Thanks, image search is a good idea. Why did I not think of that. It was probably Silvanus' classic. I can't seem to find a picture of the cover from that age.

I think for us our first exposure was through the notion of instantaneous velocity in Physics. Our Physics classes were usually a step or two ahead and there the calculus was a little handwavy. The mathematics classes in the coming weeks would soon follow making the ideas a little more grounded.

It worked for us is all I can say. Were us is my group of high school friends.