The discovery of calculus by Newton and Leibnitz in the seventeenth century revolutionized humanity's view of the natural world and of the capabilities of human understanding. After all these years, calculus is still one of the main tools used by mathematicians and other scientists to understand how things change and how things fit together. The key idea is to look closely at tiny pieces of a picture and then to reassemble these little bits back into the big pattern. In Math 1A we introduce the three main ideas of calculus: limits, derivatives, and integrals. The goal of the course is to give you a conceptual, as well as a working, understanding of these key concepts.
The textbook is Single Variable Calculus, by Stewart, (Early Transcendentals for UC Berkeley). We will cover most of chapters 1--6 in this course; the remaining sections will be covered in Math 1B.
The course will be graded in a serious manner, based on weekly homework assignments and quizzes, two midterms and the final exam. Grading will be weighted (after suitable statistical scaling) roughly as follows: 10% homework, 15% quizzes, 15% midterm 1, 20% midterm 2, and 40% for the final. Problem sets will be due at least weekly in section, and no late homework will be accepted. Quizzes will be closely based on the homework assignments due that day. Your homework is the best way to prepare for the quizzes, and in general is the key to understanding the course. You cannot learn mathematics just by listening to lectures. I recommend looking over the sections of the book before the corresponding lecture---it is better to be bored than confused. The midterm dates are fixed in the schedule, and the final exam date (May 12, 3:00--6:00), is of course fixed by the administration. These cannot be rescheduled to meet individual needs, so be sure that your are able to take them. Recall that a grade of I is granted only to students who are doing satisfactory work but have missed an exam due to circumstances beyond their control.
My grades mean the following:
For information on when and how to reach me, see my home page.
You can check my calendar here. I will have extray office hours during readin period
Our final examination is scheduled for Wedesday, May 12, at 3:00, in 2050 VLSB. I don't expect to have a practice final, since the final will be similar in format to the midterms. Note that there will be time for quesitons that take longer to answer, including some actual proofs requiring writing in complete sentences.
