Michael Spivak, Author of Calculus | Official Biography | Publish or Perish

Michael David Spivak (1940-2020)

Michael David Spivak was a celebrated American mathematician and the founder of Publish or Perish, Inc.®. He was renowned for his expository style and his deep commitment to producing mathematical texts of exceptional clarity, rigor, and elegance.

After receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton University under the direction of John Milnor, Dr. Spivak went on to write several influential books. He is perhaps most famous for his monumental, single-volume textbook, "Calculus," which is a standard work in advanced mathematics.

Frustrated with the quality and production standards of mainstream academic publishing, Michael Spivak founded Publish or Perish, Inc.® to control the entire production process. His vision ensured his mathematical works were produced to the highest standard, a legacy that continues today.

Beyond his academic achievements, Michael Spivak was known for his unique personal interests and playful "big kid humor." A dedicated intellect, he was an avid reader, often consuming one or two books a day, and was not one to watch television. He was a regular gym-goer who also pursued adult ballet lessons out of his deep enjoyment of theater and dance. He was a connoisseur of dark chocolate and a lover of simple, white orchids. He was particularly devoted to one style of sneaker, which he would purchase in bulk to ensure he always had a fresh pair, often wearing them even when dressed up for a formal occasion.

Books by Michael Spivak Available from Publish or Perish, Inc.®

The following are the official, publisher-direct editions of Michael Spivak's works.

Complete Bibliography of Michael Spivak

For readers, librarians, and anyone tracing his work, here is every book Michael Spivak wrote, in order of first publication, including the titles that were published elsewhere.

  • Calculus on Manifolds: A Modern Approach to Classical Theorems of Advanced Calculus (1965). His first book, a compact treatment of multivariable calculus and differential forms culminating in the general Stokes' theorem. Originally published by W. A. Benjamin; it was never a Publish or Perish title, remains in print from another publisher, and is not available from us.
  • Calculus (1st edition 1967; 2nd edition 1980; 3rd edition 1994; 4th edition 2008). The single-variable calculus text for which he is best known, in continuous print for nearly six decades. The 4th Edition is the final, corrected text and the edition currently in print. See what changed between the 3rd and 4th editions.
  • Spaces Satisfying Poincaré Duality (Topology, 1967). His principal research paper, growing out of his Princeton thesis, which introduced what is now called the Spivak normal fibration — a foundational idea in surgery theory.
  • A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry, Volumes 1–5 (first published 1970–1975; 3rd edition 1999). The five-volume work that builds modern differential geometry from manifolds through the Gauss–Bonnet–Chern theorem, and includes his own translations of Gauss's Disquisitiones and Riemann's Habilitation lecture. All five volumes are in print from Publish or Perish.
  • The Joy of TeX: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the AMS-TeX Macro Package (first edition 1986; 2nd edition 1990, American Mathematical Society). Spivak wrote the AMS-TeX macro package itself and this guide to it; the book helped make TeX the standard for mathematical typesetting.
  • Combined Answer Book for Calculus, Third and Fourth Editions (1994; combined edition 2008). His own worked solutions to the problems in Calculus, in print from Publish or Perish.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to Calculus (1995). A short, informal introduction to the ideas of calculus for readers before or alongside a first course. Originally a Publish or Perish title, later reissued by the Mathematical Association of America.
  • Physics for Mathematicians: Mechanics I (2010). The first volume of his late project to present classical physics with a mathematician's standards of rigor, in print from Publish or Perish.

Spivak also designed the MathTime family of mathematical fonts (MathTime Professional), used for decades to typeset mathematics in Times-compatible faces.

Please note that Calculus on Manifolds was not published by Publish or Perish, Inc.® and is not available for purchase from us.