Multivariate calculus, as traditionally presented, can overwhelm students who approach it directly from a one-variable calculus background. There is another way-a highly engaging way that does not neglect readers' own intuition, experience, and excitement. One that presents the fundamentals of the subject in a two-variable context and was set forth in the popular first edition of Functions of Two Variables.

The second edition goes even further toward a treatment that is at once gentle but rigorous, atypical yet logical, and ultimately an ideal introduction to a subject important to...