Calculus UUMath（微积分 UUMath）.pdf

1 Calculus K. M. Golden First Lecture: What is calculus about and why should I study it? The story of calculus began in the late 1600’s with the revolutionary results of Isaac New- ton (1642 - 1727) and Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716) in understanding motion and rates of change. Some of the underlying concepts, however, such as the infinite and the infini- tesimal, were thought about and articulated by the ancient Greeks, Zeno and Archimedes, well over 2000 years ago. The word calculus itself comes from Latin and means a small stone or pebble used in gaming, voting, or reckoning. It is hoped that after you have used this book, you will realize that this very long story is still being written, and is even more vibrant and essential today than it was over 300 years ago. With historical hindsight, it can be said that the development of calculus is certainly one of the greatest intellectual achievements of the past two millenia. Without calculus, most of the incredible advances in science and engineering which occurred in the twentieth century and have become part of everyday life, such as air and space travel, television, computers, weather prediction, med- ical imaging, nuclear bombs, wireless phones, the internet, microwave ovens, etc., could not have happened. Calculus provides the language and basic concepts used to formulate most of the fundamental laws and principles of the various disciplines throughout the physical, mathematical, biological, economic and social sciences, as well as electrical, mechanical, computer, bio-, civil, and materials engineering. Of course, within mathematics, calculus serves as the inescapable gateway t