A fairly common max/min problem asks the student to find the point on the parabola that is closest to the point . The solution is not too difficult. The distance, L(x), between A and the point on the parabola is given by And the minimum distance can be found when This occurs when . The local…
Accumulation 5: Lines If you have a function y(x), that has a constant derivative, m, and contains the point then, using the accumulation idea I’ve been discussing in my last few posts, its equation is This is why I need your help! I want to ban all use of the slope-intercept form, y = mx + b, as a…
Is God a Mathematician? by Mario Livio begins When you work in cosmology … one of the facts of life becomes the weekly letter, e-mail, or fax from someone who wants to describe to you his own theory of the universe (yes, they are invariably men). The biggest mistake you can make is to politely answer that you would like…
Here’s why x is so ubiquitous in mathematics. Now one more unknown thing is known! This TED Talk can be found here.
Teaching Calculus 