Dozens of experimental programs are underway here and there. Endless conferences have been held, many funded by the federal government. Recent years have seen a great hue and cry in mathematical circles over ways to improve calculus teaching. In utter astonishment at the incredible applicability of the subject, the eyebrows of the calculus students have receded higher and higher and finally vanished over the backs of their heads. It has been said that one can recognize the students on a college campus who have studied the calculus-they are the students with no eyebrows. It is like being the ringmaster of a great three-ring circus. Surely no subject in early college mathematics is more exciting or more fun to teach than the calculus. In his book Great Moments in Mathematics I found this paragraph: Howard Eves is a retired mathematician who actually enjoyed teaching calculus. One hopes this is true only of teachers who do not appreciate its enormous power and beauty. 8, 1988, page 5), said: The calculus scene has been execrable for many years, and given the inertia of our profession is quite capable of continuing that way for many more.Ĭalculus has been called the topic mathematicians most love to hate. Leonard Gillman, writing on The College Teaching Scandal ( Focus, Vol. Too often calculus is taught by inexperienced instructors to ill-prepared students in an environment with insufficient feedback. The teaching of calculus is a national disgrace, Steen, a mathematician at St. The result is an encyclopaedic compendium of techniques, examples, exercises and problems that more resemble an overgrown workbook than an intellectually stimulating introduction to a magnificent subject.
Because, he answers, the economics of publishing compels authors … to add every topic that anyone might want so that no one can reject the book just because some particular item is omitted. Why do calculus books weigh so much? Lynn Arthur Steen asked in a paper on Twenty Questions for Calculus Reformers that is reprinted in Toward a Lean and Lively Calculus (Mathematical Association of America, 1986), edited by Ronald Douglas. Modern calculus textbooks often contain more than a thousand pages-heavy enough to make excellent doorstops-and more than a thousand frightening exercises! Their prices are rapidly approaching $100. Their exercises have, as one mathematician recently put it, the dignity of solving crossword puzzles. You look through them in vain for simple, clear exposition and for problems that will hook a student’s interest. Calculus textbooks get fatter and fatter every year, with more multicolor overlays, computer graphics, and photographs of eminent mathematicians (starting with Newton and Leibniz), yet they never seem easier to comprehend. Classes tend to be so boring that students sometimes fall asleep. One reason for such a high dropout rate is that introductory calculus is so poorly taught. They exit what they fear will be too difficult a road to consider careers where entrance roads are easier. They may even decide against entering such professions as architecture, the behavioral sciences, or the social sciences (especially economics) where calculus can be useful. Those who fail almost always abandon plans to major in mathematics, physics, or engineering-three fields where advanced calculus is essential. Studies show that almost half of college freshmen who take a course in calculus fail to pass. For students who hope to become mathematicians or to enter professions that require a knowledge of calculus, such courses are the highest hurdle they have to jump. Introductory courses in calculus are now routinely taught to high school students and college freshmen. Some Recreational Problems Relating to Calculus, by Martin Gardner
Calculus made easy book how to#
How to Find the Length of an Arc on a Curve
Integrating as the Reverse of Differentiating On True Compound Interest and the Law of Organic Growth Sums, Differences, Products, and Quotients To Deliver You from the Preliminary Terrors CONTENTSĬalculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us./piracy.
Copyright infringement is against the law. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. BEING A VERY-SIMPLEST INTRODUCTION TO THOSE
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