Calculus courses prepare math and STEM students for more advanced mathematics. Students must have a clear understanding of calculus topics, and the textbook an instructor prescribed is integral to learning concepts. These are some of the most popular calculus textbooks for college students, along with the universities that use them the most.

Best Introductory and Primer Calculus Textbooks

Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe by Steven Strogatz is the story of calculus and its relationship to everyday advances. With no mathematics lessons in the book, instructors use this book to explain the application of calculus in conjunction with a technical textbook. Another introductory calculus textbook, Calculus: Early Transcendentals by Jon Rogawski, Colin Adams, and Robert Franzosa (used at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Case Western Reserve), focuses on clear depictions and examples of introductory single variables calculus. For instructors looking for a textbook that stresses learning while doing then Real Mathematical Analysis by Charles Pugh (USC and Washington University) does just that. Calculus, by Michael Spivak (Boston University and the University of Chicago), is a foundational and accessible survey text for early undergraduates.

Best Advanced Calculus Textbooks

Multivariate Calculus by James Stewart is one of the most popular textbooks on the subject. Instructors from institutions like the University of Virginia and Brandeis University use it in their classes as a continuation from single variable calculus. While Foundations of Mathematical Analysis by Richard Johnsonbaugh and W.E. Pfaffenberger (NYU and Standford) is an advanced differential equation textbook, it also contains a review of introductory elements of calculus for students who need a refresher. Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control Theory: A Concise Introduction by Daniel Liberzon is a graduate-level textbook, especially for engineering students, used at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and NYU. Differential Equations by Paul Blanchard, Robert Devaney, and Glen R. Hall (Brandeis and Case Western Reserve) is an applied textbook on a complicated subject for many students. Using consistent examples throughout the book, this textbook builds on lessons with examples from the real world. Applied Partial Differential Equations with Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems by Richard Haberman, has a rarely applied calculus perspective, which makes it comprehensible for students with a limited calculus background. Lawrence C. Evans designed Partial Differential Equations: Second Edition (Graduate Studies in Mathematics) (used at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rice University, USC, and the University of Pennsylvania) to specifically aid graduate students with plenty of exercises and an assumed mathematical background. Partial Differential Equations: An Introduction by Walter A. Strauss (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NYU, and Washington University) is a theory-driven text for intermediate to advanced courses.

These calculus textbooks are great for many different types of calculus courses. Selecting one of these texts for the course means that students will use some of the most popular books at top institutions.