Calculus in Context: The Five College Calculus Project

Calculus in Context: The Five College Calculus Project

An introductory calculus text, this book is the product of the Five College Calculus Project, a curriculum development project funded by The National Science Foundation

Tag(s): Calculus

Publication date: 01 Feb 2008

ISBN-10: n/a

ISBN-13: n/a

Paperback: 869 pages

Views: 9,538

Type: Textbook

Publisher: n/a

License: n/a

Post time: 08 Dec 2016 01:00:00

Calculus in Context: The Five College Calculus Project

Calculus in Context: The Five College Calculus Project An introductory calculus text, this book is the product of the Five College Calculus Project, a curriculum development project funded by The National Science Foundation
Tag(s): Calculus
Publication date: 01 Feb 2008
ISBN-10: n/a
ISBN-13: n/a
Paperback: 869 pages
Views: 9,538
Document Type: Textbook
Publisher: n/a
License: n/a
Post time: 08 Dec 2016 01:00:00
From the Preface:
Callahan, Hoffman, Cox, O’Shea, Pollatsek, and Senechal wrote:Our point of view We believe that calculus can be for our students what it was for Euler and the Bernoullis: A language and a tool for exploring the whole fabric of science. We also believe that much of the mathematical depth and vitality of calculus lies in these connections to the other sciences. The mathematical questions that arise are compelling in part because the answers matter to other disciplines as well.

The calculus curriculum that this book represents started with a "clean slate;" we made no presumptive commitment to any aspect of the traditional course. In developing the curriculum, we found it helpful to spell out our starting points, our curricular goals, our functional goals, and our view of the impact of technology. Our starting points are a summary of what calculus is really about. Our curricular goals are what we aim to convey about the subject in the course. Our functional goals describe the attitudes and behaviors we hope our students will adopt in using calculus to approach scientific and mathematical questions. We emphasize that what is missing from these lists is as significant as what appears. In particular, we did not not begin by asking what parts of the traditional course to include or discard. 

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About The Author(s)


James Callahan is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Clark Science Center, at Smith College. Callahan was the director of the Five College Calculus Project (funded by the National Science Foundation). His interests include: geometry, dynamical systems, chaos and fractals, catastrophe theory, relativity, most areas of applied analysis and building things. 

James Callahan

James Callahan is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Clark Science Center, at Smith College. Callahan was the director of the Five College Calculus Project (funded by the National Science Foundation). His interests include: geometry, dynamical systems, chaos and fractals, catastrophe theory, relativity, most areas of applied analysis and building things. 


David A. Cox is William J. Walker Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Amherst College.

David A. Cox

David A. Cox is William J. Walker Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Amherst College.


Kenneth R. Hoffman is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Hampshire College. He has an M.A. from Harvard, where he also served as a teaching fellow. He taught mathematics at Talladega College during 1965-70. In addition to population biology and mathematical modeling, Professor Hoffman's interests include education, American Indians, and natural history.

Kenneth Hoffman

Kenneth R. Hoffman is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Hampshire College. He has an M.A. from Harvard, where he also served as a teaching fellow. He taught mathematics at Talladega College during 1965-70. In addition to population biology and mathematical modeling, Professor Hoffman's interests include education, American Indians, and natural history.


Elizabeth T. Kennan Professor of Mathematics and Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Mount Holyoke College.

Donal O'Shea

Elizabeth T. Kennan Professor of Mathematics and Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Mount Holyoke College.


Harriet Suzanne Katcher Pollatsek is Professor of Mathematics at Mount Holyoke College. She is a researcher in the field of Lie theory and on the application of difference sets to error correcting codes and coding theory. She is also active in developing new methods of teaching mathematics, particularly in developing a new method of teaching calculus called calculus in context. This method embeds calculus concepts in specific questions from various sciences and then goes to the abstract and generalized concepts.

Harriet Pollatsek

Harriet Suzanne Katcher Pollatsek is Professor of Mathematics at Mount Holyoke College. She is a researcher in the field of Lie theory and on the application of difference sets to error correcting codes and coding theory. She is also active in developing new methods of teaching mathematics, particularly in developing a new method of teaching calculus called calculus in context. This method embeds calculus concepts in specific questions from various sciences and then goes to the abstract and generalized concepts.


Lester Senechal is the owner at Scientific Consulting Associates. Previously, he was Professor of Mathematics at Mount Holyoke College.

Lester Senechal

Lester Senechal is the owner at Scientific Consulting Associates. Previously, he was Professor of Mathematics at Mount Holyoke College.


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