Can I skip the introduction in Apostol's calculus?

In summary, the conversation discusses whether or not the four-part introduction of Apostol's calculus book can be skipped. The speaker briefly skims the introduction and notes that it reviews summation notation and drawing Riemann sums by hand, which they find tedious. They inquire about the importance of the content and express a desire to not subject themselves to drawing graphs by hand. The other person advises against skipping the introduction, as it covers important concepts such as set theory that are used in later chapters, and being able to sketch graphs is a useful skill for understanding integration.
  • #1
Antineutrino
6
0
I'll be starting Apostol's calculus book in a little less than two weeks, as I'm finishing up an easier textbook. I looked ahead and I see that there is a four part introduction, and I was wondering if I could just skip that. I briefly skimmed it, and it just looks like a review of summation notation, and drawing riemann sums by hand (sounds tedious).

If there is important content in the intro then I won't skip it, but if there isn't then I'd not like to subject myself to the torture that is drawing graphs by hand.
 
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  • #2
If you're easily able to sketch graphs of functions on paper, then maybe you can skip the intro sections. If not, then my advice would be to not skip them. Being able to sketch graphs is an important and useful skill that is helpful in visualizing integration concepts.
 
  • #3
The Introduction is mainly about set theory, which is used in later chapters, so - no.
 
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