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So I'm going through Spivak Calculus 3. Ed. and I'm still on chapter one. It's quite abstract but I'm managing. So far everything is clear but I'll get on the exercises real soon and I don't know if I should do all of them or I can skip some?

What would you people suggest?

Some important points: - First year student in mathematics - No prior background in proof except basic trigonometric proofs. - Do not like Stewart's book. lol

Alex Youcis
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Sab ಠ_ಠ
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    Do as many as you can. Take your time. It's a great book. Just don't get stuck in doing all of them, you can always move on and go back to an exercise that eluded you when you know a little more, and maybe you will need only say the solution out loud, without having to get your hands dirty. – Pedro Mar 29 '14 at 19:51
  • @PedroTamaroff Is it normal that I'm taking more than 10 minutes per page? I'm still on page 11 and I have a feeling that I'm too slow. – Sab ಠ_ಠ Mar 29 '14 at 20:03
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    It's not really a race. If you're reading for the first time, it's just fine. – Pedro Mar 29 '14 at 20:06
  • Agreed. 15 chars/ – Sab ಠ_ಠ Mar 29 '14 at 20:07
  • In more advanced books, you could easily spend more like 2 hours per page. 10 minutes per page is perfectly fine if you are digesting and understanding the material. – Math1000 Mar 14 '15 at 12:59

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Calculus is definitely fundamental and important. However, should one do all of the problem sets? NO.

Despite the fact that the basic training is so important, I would not suggest one do all of the problem sets, for there are bunches of beautiful results in mathematics waiting you to discover!! So doing just a rational amount of problems is enough. Well, so how many should one do?

I believe the most important goal of doing exercises is to improve your computing skills and to get acquainted with some special examples, either the strange ones or the special ones. So just take your pace, and make sure you grasp the concept of each exercise. Skip those problems that are a no brainer to you. Good luck.

user223261
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