Calculus for Everyone

Book excerpt: This book is for only two kinds of people: those who are interested in science and math, and those who aren't. And so, motivated by this powerful idea, Calculus for Everyone presents the mathematics of change in an extremely effective way for anyone with a first-year course in algebra. Yet it does so without dumbing calculus down. In fact, Calculus for Everyone is not only for students who would have never dreamt of taking calculus, it is also for those who have already taken a standard calculus course, as well as for those who will go on to take such a course Based on more than a decade of classroom experience, this book provides mastery of calculus's core by focusing on the foundational concepts of limits, derivatives, and integrals, explaining how all three are united in the fundamental theorem of calculus. Moreover, Calculus for Everyone explains how the story of calculus is central to Western culture, from Plato in ancient Greece, to today's modern physics. Indeed, this book explains why calculus is needed at all-and why it is needed so badly. By mastering the core of calculus-as well as seeing its meaning and significance-students will not only better understand math and science in general, but contemporary culture and their place in it.