Calculus

Calculus: Understanding Its Concepts and Methods by Darel Hardy, Fred Richman, Carol Walker, and Robert Wisner was published by MacKichan Software in 2006.

HardyCalculuscoverCarol and I wrote the paperback Doing Calculus with Scientific Notebook in 1997 and had gained some insight about how students and their instructors might use Scientific Notebook to better understand and do calculus. If Scientific Notebook is such a great environment for learning calculus, why not use it as a browser, rather than using print media?

Writing a full calculus book is a major project, whether it is an ebook or a print version. We needed help. We talked with Bob Wisner about our proposed project and asked if he might be interested in joining us. He initially assumed that we were just kidding, then suggested that we also talk with Fred Richman. Eventually all four of us signed on and we started exchanging chapters, using Source Off Site. We could check out a chapter, add and delete material, then check the chapter back in.

The 17 chapters include all of the material usually taught in a three-semester calculus sequence. In addition, there is a chapter entitled Function Approximations with the usual Taylor polynomials plus polynomial interpolation, splines, Bezier curves, rational functions, and trigonometric polynomials. There is also a chapter on numerical integration. Without the built-in computer algebra system in Scientific Notebook, the material in these two chapters can be too computationally demanding for entry-level calculus.

Barry MacKichan agreed to publish Calculus: Understanding Its Concepts and Methods and to promote it on www.mackichan.com. The book is sold with a one month, one semester, one year, or permanent license to Scientific Notebook.

Click HERE to download the Hardy Calculus Demo Files.