The calculus tutorial just shipped!

ivan

I just finished working on a calculus tutorial that introduces key ideas like limits, derivatives, and integrals in a condensed manner. I’m very proud of how it came out, since it includes the standard definitions and math formulas, but also explains derivatives and integrals as Python code. This tutorial as a free download so that even people who don’t own the No Bullshit Guide to Math & Physics textbook can learn the key ideas of calculus: just print this bad boy at home or on the office printer.

Check out the printable PDF here:
https://minireference.com/static/tutorials/calculus_tutorial.pdf [2MB, 25pp]
and run the associated computational notebook here: https://bit.ly/calctut3.

You can also watch this video trailer that explains what’s in the tutorial:

Read the rest of the blog post to learn about my motivation for writing this tutorial and where it fits in the wider Minireference Co. content marketing strategy for 2026.

 

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What stats do people want to learn?

ivan

If I’ve learned anything about the startup world, it is that you have to listen to your customers, which in my case are the readers of the No Bullshit Guide textbooks. With this principle in mind, I sent out a survey to readers interested in the upcoming statistics requesting feedback on the general direction for the book, based on the stats curriculum and book proposal blog posts, the concept map, and the detailed book outline.

I’ll summarize the results of the survey below (140+ respondents) and comment on some of the readers’ suggestions and advice. The survey is still open in case you want to add your feedback, or feel free to send me an email directly. My email is ivan at this domain.

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The textbook business

ivan

This is a followup on my previous post about the challenges of open educational resources (OER) production and adoption. I’ve come to the conclusion that the key aspect holding back the “OER dream” is not the lack of collaboration tools or the ability for teachers to discover material, but the quality of the content. You can’t write a textbook by committee. It’s as simple as that!

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Improving the math chapter

ivan

The goal for the NO BULLSHIT guide to MATH & PHYSICS was to make a concise textbook that teaches university-level calculus and mechanics in a nice “combined package.” The math fundamentals chapter grew out of the need to introduce the prerequisite material that many students often lack. I didn’t want to be like “y’all should remember this math from high school,” because if you don’t remember the material such comments would not be very helpful. A review of high school math would be more helpful.

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Linear algebra problem sets progress

ivan

I’ve been working on the problem sets for the linear algebra book non-stop for the past month. It’s a lot of work, but also very rewarding. I’m going through online resources and looking for inspiration by reading exams and books to find illustrative exercises and challenging problems. This leads to a lot of  learning and reviewing of ideas along the way…

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No BS math and physics v5.1 update

ivan

Over the last years, several readers uncovered mistakes in the No bullshit guide to math & physics, which I immediately fixed in the source. The errors were mostly minor, so they didn’t warrant a new edition, but once I reached a threshold of six errata, I decided it’s time to release a v5.1 update. With this bugfix update, I took the time to make some other minor improvements described below.

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No bullshit guide to programming

ivan

How does one learn to code? Students in computer science and software engineering will have a few first-year programming courses, with the first one introducing basics like variables, control flow, and loops. Autodidact programmers probably started with a tutorial somewhere, but eventually got a book on the subject. Regardless of the learner’s path, we’re talking about a book that teaches “the basics.”

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