Calculus in Context : Background, Basics, and Applications

A new approach to teaching calculus that uses historical examples and draws on applications from science and engineering.

Breaking the mold of existing calculus textbooks, Calculus in Context draws students into the subject in two new ways. Part I develops the mathematical preliminaries (including geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and coordinate geometry) within the historical frame of the ancient Greeks and the heliocentric revolution in astronomy. Part II starts with comprehensive and modern treatments of the fundamentals of both differential and integral calculus, then turns to a wide-ranging discussion of applications. Students will learn that core ideas of calculus are central to concepts such as acceleration, force, momentum, torque, inertia, and the properties of lenses.

Classroom-tested at Notre Dame University, this textbook is suitable for students of wide-ranging backgrounds because it engages its subject at several levels and offers ample and flexible problem set options for instructors. Parts I and II are both supplemented by expansive Problems and Projects segments. Topics covered in the book include:

• the basics of geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and coordinate geometry and the historical, scientific agenda that drove their development
• a brief, introductory calculus from the works of Newton and Leibniz
• a modern development of the essentials of differential and integral calculus
• the analysis of specific, relatable applications, such as the arc of the George Washington Bridge; the dome of the Pantheon; the optics of a telescope; the dynamics of a bullet; the geometry of the pseudosphere; the motion of a planet in orbit; and the momentum of an object in free fall.

Calculus in Context is a compelling exploration―for students and instructors alike―of a discipline that is both rich in conceptual beauty and broad in its applied relevance.

Alexander J. Hahn is a professor of mathematics at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Basic Calculus: From Archimedes to Newton to Its Role in Science and Mathematical Excursions to the World's Great Buildings. For more information, see the website
math.nd.edu/people/faculty/alexander-j-hahn/