Thomas’ Calculus, Fourteenth Edition, helps a calculus sequence typically taken by graduates in STEM fields over many semesters. Precise explanations, thoughtfully chosen examples, superior diagrams, and time-tested exercise sets are the inspiration of this text. We continue to improve this text keep with shifts in both the preparation and therefore the goals of today’s students, and in the applications of calculus to a changing world.

Many of today’s students have been exposed to calculus in high school. For some, this translates into a successful experience with calculus in college. For others, however, the result is an overconfidence in their computational abilities coupled with underlying gaps in algebra and trigonometry mastery, as well as poor conceptual understanding. In this text, we seek to satisfy the requirements of the increasingly varied population within the calculus sequence.

We have taken care to give enough material, detailed solutions, and a variety of examples and exercises, to support a complete understanding of calculus for students at varying levels. Additionally, the My MathLab course that accompanies the text provides adaptive support to meet the needs of all students.

Within the text, we present the material in a way that supports the development of mathematical maturity, going beyond memorizing formulas and routine procedures, and we show students the way to generalize key concepts once they’re introduced. References are made throughout, tying new concepts to related ones that were studied earlier.

After understanding calculus from Thomas, graduates will have developed reasoning and problem-solving abilities which will serve them well in many important aspects of their lives. Mastering this beautiful and artistic subject, with its many practical applications across numerous fields, is its own reward. But the real gifts of studying calculus are acquiring the ability to think logically and precisely; understanding what is defined, what is assumed, and what is deduced; and learning how to generalize conceptually. We intend this book to encourage and support those goals.