MTH 251 – 400 Differential Calculus on the Web
Information on the Course Text


Information posted on this page may require action on your part so read it carefully!

As of fall term 2010, the mathematics department is adopting a new book by Briggs and Cochran in all its calculus offerings. For uniformity, we will concurrently adopt the same text in the online Differential Calculus (MTH 251 – 400) and Integral Calculus (MTH 252 – 400) courses. The custom editions of the text used at OSU come with access to MyMathlab (a.k.a. CourseCompass) which is used for online tests and graded homework problems, but the site also offers a number of useful tools, including video lectures, review cards, and tutorial exercises, for organizing your studies and to facilitate learning the course material.

Somewhat confusingly, there is now an array of more or less equivalent versions of the calculus text by Briggs and Cochran, which I am listing below. Your choice of a particular version to purchase is dictated by your physical location and by whether you are planning to continue into vector calculus. But please be sure to acquire access code to MyMathLab!

  1. Single Variable Calculus Custom Edition with MyMathLab Access Code Package, ISBN-13: 978-0-558-86352-4. Differential and integral calculus with bundled access to MyMathLab.
  2. Single Variable and Multivariable Calculus Custom Edition with MyMathLab Access Code Package, ISBN-13: 978-0-558-81673-5. Differential, integral and vector calculus with bundled access to MyMathLab.
  3. The publisher offers editions of the Single Variable Calculus text and of the Multivariable Calculus text that come with an access code for MyMathLab and are available through commercial vendors.
  4. Purchase access to the course at CourseCompass using the ID pohjanpelto06795. Provides an online version of the course text with access to MyMathLab.

Somewhat oddly, if you acquire a version of Briggs/Cochran without the MyMathLab bundle and subsequently wish to access the portal, you will need to buy the eBook version (option 4) of the text at around $75. If you reside on campus and, in particular, if you are planning to take calculus courses on campus in the future you should probably acquire the OSU custom edition of the text, which is available only through the OSU bookstore. The Single Variable editions simply comprise of the first 10 chapters of the corresponding full Multivariable Calculus text so purchasing the former may make sense for students who do not intend to study calculus past integral calculus. The eBook version under option 7 provides instant access to the text for the duration of the course, and might be a practical choice, in particular, for students living off campus.

Last edited on June 1, 2011 at 7:48 p.m.