Actually Calculus is a fascinating subject.
It does to Algebra what Algebra did to normal Arithmetic.
Howsomever, De, Question for you. Or your son if he's more qualified.
Ya got that dx/dy bull poop . . . And that taking a limit almost to zero, then dividing it out and magically it goes away and there is an answer.
What really does all the work is a little thing called a 'derivative'. With what I now know, I can go back to Algebra, with the need to plot a quadratic equation - which plots into a parabola. No problem. Take the derivative of the equation, set it to zero, solve, and now I got an 'x' coordinate. Plug that back into the equation and now I got the 'y'. This point being the exact location of the vertex of the parabola. Plot a few points either side of 'x' and I got the parabola. Easy stuff, and no dx/dy required.
I took a quick look at the integral . . . Getting the area under a curve. No sweat, once one 'gets it'. (About forty years ago I had a problem 'getting it'.) The hard way was to algebraically divide that curve into ten-thousand little bitty imaginary rectangles, and add up all the areas. So I fed it to to a computer. Right answer. Then I woke up in the middle of the night . . and said, "That's how you do it." A year later, out of school, and I forgot 99% of it.
So, De, my question. Is it possible to learn 'applied Calculus' and make good use of the material - without having to learn or master that dx/dy garbage?
Zim.
Mad Poet Strikes Again.
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