I approach math with fear and trembling. That's why I looked to my husband for a second opinion on Calculus Without Tears.

It seemed too simple when I first picked it up, but the author assures us that calculus is simple, and can be learned without the complications of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. The book starts out simply enough, with a runner who runs at a constant speed for a certain number of seconds. Pretty soon we have exchanged velocity for speed (velocity indicates direction), and before you know it the student is handling negative and positive numbers with ease.

This is a self-paced study, with instructions and then exercises. The student is able to perform self-checking through a "checksum" operation - that is, the totals for several parts of an exercise will add up to a specific number. If your checksum doesn't match the author's, you need to re-do the problem.

The program requires that the student already have a handle on decimal math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Terms are introduced and used repeatedly, to accustom the student to using words such as "function," "velocity," "position" (in axis coordinates), "derivative," and "integral" properly as they follow the runner on his way, plot points on a graph, and learn to calculate the area under a curve.

Working at a steady pace, the student is gently led, in Volume 1, through the fundamentals of constant velocity motion. It is not long before the problems start to resemble what I remember of high school physics. (Volumes 2 and 3, which I haven't seen, are said to introduce more complex functions.)

Even a mathophobe like myself was able to work through the book without trouble, and my third-grade student, who is working on a fourth-grade level in our math program, has made it part-way through the lessons without any trouble except, perhaps, for boredom with the lack of variety. "Not the runner, again!"

This was my husband's opinion, as well. I wanted his opinion on whether this was really calculus, for it seemed way too easy. His criticism had nothing to do with the material presented, but rather the presentation itself. "Boring." He thought the examples might have been varied for more interest. (And he's a runner! You'd think that a math book based on running times would... never mind. I guess if the problems were all based on barrel racing my reaction would be the same as his. Talking about horses can only "up" the interest level so far, and no further.)

Still, it works. So if you want a good workhorse of a math program, introducing concepts that will come in handy later, in higher math and in physics, look into Calculus Without Tears.