Daniel Brown

AP Calculus
10-13-2014
The Calculus Diaries

After reading the prologue and chapter one of The Calculus Diaries, my perspective on
calculus and its concepts have changed. The Calculus Diaries describes the history of calculus,
such as who discovered it, when it was discovered, and how it can be used in everyday life. It
starts out by describing the story of Archimedes, who invented devices to help fend off the
Roman Empire from invading Syracuse. He was considered to be the first person to describe
calculus concepts. The author describes that the two main concepts that make up calculus are
the derivative and the integral. The author also describes his personal conflicts with calculus in
the past and what it took for him to overcome his hatred for calculus and math in general. The
author continues by telling how two men actually co-created calculus. These men were Isaac
Newton and Leibniz. They published papers at different times and there was a lot of mudslinging when it came to who actually invented calculus, and it was not until years later that
both were determined to be co-creators of calculus. However, the author tells of paradoxes
that came with the invention of calculus. There can never really be a zero value when it comes
to calculus because if you take a certain value and cut it in half infinitely, you will still have a
number greater than zero. This paradox is known as Zenos paradox. Zenos paradox was later

solved by mathematician Jean le Rond dAlembert. He explained that an object that is in motion
is on a journey and this journey takes an infinite amount of much, much smaller steps, but the
travel does not go on indefinitely, it reaches a destination. This helped provide a clearer view of
how calculus can be used and why it is important in everyday life, even if we dont think that we
use it. This reading changed my perspective on calculus and its concepts. I now realize that
calculus is a useful tool, even if we dont think so. It also made me realize that math in general
is actually a very interesting topic and is a staple of day to day life around the world. Calculus is
useful for things that involve instantaneous rate of change. For example, if you want to find the
velocity of an object at one specific point in time, you would use calculus. The reading really
simplifies the main ideas of calculus, the derivative and the integral. The author uses the
example of a car in motion to describe derivatives and integrals. A derivative can be used to
find the speed of a car when you only know its position. An integral can determine the distance
a car has traveled when only its speed is known. The author uses the metaphor that the
derivative and integral are like two ends of a hammer; one is for pulling out the nails, and the
other is for pounding them in. The author also states that calculus is useful in many other things
such as gas mileage, diet and exercise, economics, architecture, population growth and decline,
and probabilities that youll hit it big in Vegas. The example is given of an outfielder in baseball.
He must estimate where the ball is likely to land after the batter hits the ball. He is using
calculus whether or not he knows it. He uses calculus because he is trying to predict the
position of the ball with a very rough estimate of its speed. A really amazing fact was that
worms do calculus. According to a biologist at the University of Oregon, worms have to use a
very, very basic form of calculus to find where the nearest food is. This fact amazed me because

I didnt realize that one of the most basic life forms on Earth uses calculus to stay alive. It also
made me realize that if worms can do calculus without the mental capacity of a human, why do
humans complain about calculus so much? Another interesting thing that the author talked
about was the prayer book containing information about calculus. The book was originally
written by Archimedes, and the book was later written over by a monk. After years of being
vanished, the book reappeared and a Danish philologist attempted to decipher what was
written. However, he lost the book and it wasnt found again for ninety years. When it was
found, it ended up being sold at auction for two million dollars. This little anecdote fascinated
me because I didnt realize how much a book about math could go for. It made sense because
the book was ancient, but it was hard to believe that the book was worth two million dollars. In
this book, the idea of curves is addressed by Archimedes. A problem was finding the area under
a particular curve. A Greek astronomer and mathematician figured out that even though you
couldnt calculate an exact area under a curve, you could approximate by using a succession of
rectangles under the curve. Then you just find the area of each rectangle, add them up, and you
will have the approximate area of the space under the curve. This process became known as
approximation. The use for finding the area under the curve was to find the integral, which had
not yet been invented at that point. It was the first real step to defining calculus. The only
problem with this method was that it could go on forever and ever. It would be impossible to
draw an infinite amount of rectangles. This is why it was such an imperfect process and wasnt a
very well detailed process. The Calculus Diaries is a very informative reading. Through this
reading, I learned a lot about the purpose of calculus in everyday life, the creation of calculus,

and a simplified version of the basic concepts of calculus. Through this reading, I was able to
achieve a better understanding of the ideas and purposes of differential and integral calculus.