I come from a country where international English books aren't easily available, and books published in my language are not at all useful. I wanted to start self-studying calculus and other higher mathematics. I have never touched calculus before and I really want to 'master' the subject (as in gain as much understanding as possible).
I bought Thomas' Calculus, because that's the only one I could find. Tried finding Spivak (heard it's good), but no luck.
I want to know : what's the best way of studying calculus, and how should I approach Thomas' Calculus?
Best Answer
Math texts are usually written with the idea that the student will be taking a class. Some topics are easy to explain in real time (lecture or office hours) but very hard to convey in print.
Thomas is sort of the original calc text, because most "ordinary" text books have copied his style. Thomas was a professor at MIT and MIT has open (free) courses you can find online:
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-01-single-variable-calculus-fall-2005/
for instance. Perhaps using Thomas and following the above lectures will get you on your way.