Books that go beyond plain calculus; and some thoughts about books ================================================================== After you've done calculus, if you want to go further, the following are the best available books on the next 3 subjects: E.L.Ince: Ordinary differential equations (Dover). R.Horn & C.Johnson: Matrix analysis (Cambridge Univ. press). G.Golub and C.Van Loan: Matrix computations (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press). R.Remmert: Theory of complex functions (Springer). Note, these are too much for undergraduates (or even most pros) to digest in one gulp, but that does not matter - they deliver tons of good useful stuff in a form useful as a reference. Do not fall into the TRAP of thinking "I want the `easy' book designed for dummies." Often, really, the best books for dummies are the same as the best books for experts, i.e. the best books, full stop. Books covering more stuff can be better, not worse, especially if it is all independently accessible without reading though everything else first. Another TRAP is to believe the newest book is the best. That can be true in rapidly changing areas where stuff quickly gets out of date, but, in well-established areas of math - i.e. most low-year undergraduate courses - older books can be just as good or better, and papers written in 1900 can remain fully as good today! A final TRAP is to believe courses & books involving computers are better than those without. That can be true - and in the modern world it is essential for any scientist or engineer to be able to program - but often it is best for you, the human, to be the center of attention. It's about thinking. Once you the human understand something, often computerizing it will be no problem.