Applied Calculus 5th Edition

PREFACE

Calculus is one of the greatest achievements of the human intellect. Inspired by problems in astronomy, Newton and Leibniz developed the ideas of calculus 300 years ago. Since then, each century has demonstrated the power of calculus to illuminate questions in mathematics, the physical sciences, engineering, and the social and biological sciences.

Calculus has been so successful because of its extraordinary power to reduce complicated problems to simple rules and procedures. Therein lies the danger in teaching calculus: it is possible to teach the subject as nothing but the rules and procedures—thereby losing sight of both the mathematics and of its practical value. This edition of Applied Calculus continues our effort to promote courses in which understanding reinforces computation.

Mathematical Concepts and Modeling

The first stage in the development of mathematical thinking is the acquisition of a clear intuitive picture of the central ideas. In the next stage, the student learns to reason with the intuitive ideas in plain English. After this foundation has been laid, there is a choice of direction. All students benefit from both mathematical concepts and modeling, but the balance may differ for different groups of students. For instructors wishing to emphasize the connection between calculus and other fields, the text includes:

• A variety of problems and examples from the biological sciences and economics.
• Models from the health sciences and of population growth.