As an engineering student in the U.S., I have found that most foreign students seem more adept with the basic foundations of mathematics, especially algebra. I attribute this to the fact that that most American students are not introduced to the basics of sets and mappings until far too late.
For me, I found one book in particular to be very useful in helping me to get a firmer grasp on algebra and functions which are indispensible for fully grasping calculus, differential equations, and systems later on.
The book is called "Applied Algebra and Functional Analysis", by Anthony N Michel and Charles Hergert.
As for Calculus, I found "Calculus Made Easy", by Martin Gardner to be very helpful as a supplement to most of my texts in college.
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As an engineering student in the U.S., I have found that most foreign students seem more adept with the basic foundations of mathematics, especially algebra. I attribute this to the fact that that most American students are not introduced to the basics of sets and mappings until far too late. For me, I found one book in particular to be very useful in helping me to get a firmer grasp on algebra and functions which are indispensible for fully grasping calculus, differential equations, and systems later on. The book is called "Applied Algebra and Functional Analysis", by Anthony N Michel and Charles Hergert. As for Calculus, I found "Calculus Made Easy", by Martin Gardner to be very helpful as a supplement to most of my texts in college.