Synthesis Lectures on Mathematics & Statistics Calculus: A Modeling and Computational Thinking Approach

This book is intended for a first-semester course in calculus, which begins by posing a question: how do we model an epidemic mathematically? The book’s approach to calculus is contextual and based on the principle that calculus is motivated and elucidated by its relevance to the modeling of various natural phenomena. This book is a first-semester course in calculus, which begins by posing a question: how we do we model an epidemic mathematically? The authors use this question as an immediate, natural motivation for the study of calculus, and an immediate, natural context through which central calculus notions can be understood intuitively. The book’s approach to calculus is contextual and based on the principle that calculus is motivated and elucidated by its relevance to the modeling of various natural phenomena. The authors also approach calculus from a computational perspective, explaining that many natural phenomena require analysis through computer methods. Because of this, the book also explores some basic programming notions and skills.