Synopsis
What is calculus really for? This text is an introduction to applications of calculus, from Newton's time to the present day. These often involve questions of dynamics, i.e. of how - and why - things change with time. Problems of this kind lie at the heart of much of applied mathematics, physics, and engineering. The text moves from first steps to the frontiers, and highlights important and interesting ideas. Aimed at a wide readership, the text assumes only some knowledge of elementary calculus. Exercises (with full solutions) and simple but powerful computer programs which are suitable even for readers with no previous computing experience. The book aims to inspire new students by providing a foretaste of more advanced mathematics and showing just how interesting the subject can be.
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Review
The author has been really successful in combining very intuitive mathematics with very intuitive physics in a highly readable book.....this is a most advisable book for first year courses on applied calculus, dynamics or introductory physics (or for a part of such courses). It will be also very useful to science teachers in schools and to general readers interested in science who wish to use their home computers to keep up with an important aspect of physical science. (Institute of Physics)
Using carefully selected examples, from the time of Newton to the present day the author demonstrates in a highly readable form what we usually call the mathematization of physical problems. (European Mathematical Society Newsletter, issue 27, March 1998)
The project as a whole succeeds well, and the book deserves to be on the shelves of people ranging from school science teachers to undergraduates in mathematics and physics....The last chapter deals with stability of inverted pendulums, and gives an excellent rounded account of how the theory, experiments, and simulations interact to explain this fascinating effect...The material presented here is a fascinating and unpretentious sweep through the subject, and it would make an ideal course text at undergraduate level, or an individual study book for well-motivated 'A' level readers...The aim of giving the reader insight into a wide array of dynamical problems using very elementary mathematics is achieved well, and the excellent selection of examples and historical asides adds depth to the topics covered.
I enjoyed reading this book and learned quite a lot from it. I recommend it to anyone who - like myself - knows calculus better than chaos, and would like to begin rectifying the situation as painlessly as possible
About the Author
Dr D.J. Acheson Jesus College Oxford OX1 3DW Tel: 01865 279700 Fax: 01865 279687 Email: david.acheson@jesus.ox.ac.uk
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