Books are friendly, even if they call you "dummy" in their title. A blogging friend suggested that I get "Calculus for Dummies" and its accompanying workbook. Since I am studying on my own, and live helpers are difficult to reach, books are all-important. Anton and the engineering calculus book, as well as the UC Davis website and others, are all good, but they expect you to have a bit more mathematical knowledge than I do. I backed off from the UC Davis site and returned to my texts, re-reading the chapters on how to get limits and slopes. Then, using the handy information that the Davis site offered me, I was able to recognize when something mathematical needs to be deconstructed in order to find where the limit comes from.

I have now successfully done some of the problems and it's time to move on to the next chapter, using Anton as my primary text. I have been formally introduced to derivatives, which I have already been working on without knowing what they are called. It is really beginning to look like calculus now. Derivative problems will follow. Meanwhile, my "Dummies" book is making sure that I remember my basic algebra and other mathematics that are necessary for doing calculus. "Calculus for Dummies" is folksy, cheerful, and often snarky, but it is much more friendly than the businesslike Anton book. I'm glad to have all this help on paper.

So far, I am actually enjoying calculus. This is because I am not under pressure to learn it. I love solving problems. But I would hate to solve them if I knew my future college and career were dependent on them. I read constantly of scientists trying to interest young folks in science. They work hard on outreach to middle schools and high schools, they run learning programs and write books and even help make films and TV shows to attract young people, hoping that perhaps a few of them will decide to go into professional science. I wonder whether the scientists know that here and there, older people are also interested in it, and devoted enough to work through calculus and physics even though they will never contribute to the field or even connect with the "scientific community."

Posted at 3:16 am | link