Instructor: Bjorn Poonen

Lectures: MWF 10-11am in 155 Dwinelle Hall.

Enrollment information: The course control number is 54382. General enrollment information. If (at this late date) you have waitlist questions or wish to switch discussion section, you should talk to Barbara Peavy on the 9th floor of Evans Hall.

E-mail: poonen@math (Since there are 450 students in this class, please email me a question only if it is something that your GSI cannot answer. For math-related questions, you should instead come to office hours, because it is so much easier to communicate math in person than by email. For questions about enrollment and waitlists, see the above. Anonymous emails and emails sent from non-Berkeley accounts may end up in my spam folder.)

Office Hours: Tues 10:30-11:30, Wed 1:30-2:30, Fri 11:30-12:30 in 879 Evans.

GSIs: Kiril Datchev, Daniel Erman, Johanna Franklin, James Kelley, Sasha Peterka. Any Math 16A student is welcome at any GSI's office hours. Sasha Peterka's office hours are Wednesdays 5-7pm in 1066 Evans; for the other TAs' office hours, go to their websites by clicking on their names.

Prerequisites: Math 32 or three years of high school mathematics including trigonometry. If you are not sure whether this course is at the right level for you, this diagnostic exam might help you decide. Math 16A and 16B are intended for students who do not intend to take further mathematics courses. If your intended major lies in the sciences, you might consider taking 1A and 1B instead, even if your department does not require it.

Required Text: At the math department's request, the publisher has provided a softcover edition of the text split into two volumes, one for Math 16A, and one for Math 16B. For 16A, you need Calculus and its applications, Volume One, which looks like this:

It consists of Chapters 0 through 6 of Goldstein, Lay, Schneider, Asmar, Calculus and its applications, 11th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. If you know you will take both 16A and 16B, you could alternatively buy the whole hardcover text containing all Chapters 0 through 12. It looks like this:

An older edition of the text may cover the same subjects, but you will need access to one of the editions above, since homework problems will be assigned from there. You may also find useful the MyMathLab software that comes bundled with some versions of the text: use course ID poonen28821. But I have chosen not to require this software: I thought it would be unfair to some students to assign homework to be done online using this software, because I learned that this feature works only under Microsoft Windows. So it is OK if your version of the text does not have this software.

Syllabus: The derivative and its applications (e.g., to optimization), techniques for differentiation, exponential and logarithmic functions, the definite integral. We will cover Chapters 0 through 6 of the text. The focus will be on the meaning of the concepts as well as on how to do computations, since one needs to understand the meaning in order to apply the concepts. (So even if you took high school calculus and are really good at computing derivatives and definite integrals, don't assume that you know everything!)

Quizzes: There will be approximately 5 ten-minute quizzes, given in lecture on unannounced dates. Each will be worth 1% of the total grade (part of the 20% section grade mentioned below), so do not worry if you miss one.

Exams: There will be in-class midterms on Monday September 25 and Wednesday November 1, and a 3-hour final exam Tuesday December 12, 8-11am in the back half of 100 Haas Pavilion. There will be no makeup midterms: if you miss a midterm for any reason, the final exam grade will be used for that midterm grade. If the final exam time is bad for you, you should enroll in the other Math 16A lecture. Notes, books, and calculators will not be permitted for exams. Bring your student ID, and pencils or pens to the final exam. Blue books will not be needed this time.
I've posted a practice final (an actual final from a previous semester) and solutions to help you prepare. For other ways to study, see the class email I sent regarding Midterm 1.
You may view (the slightly different versions of) the final exam and solutions here.

Homework: There will be weekly assignments posted on the web and due at the beginning of section each Thursday. The first assignment will be due September 7. Late homework will not be accepted, but see the grading policy. You should not expect to be able to solve every single problem on your own; instead you are encouraged to discuss questions with each other or to come to office hours for help. If you meet with a study group, please think about the problems in advance and try to do as many as you can on your own before meeting. After discussion with others, write-ups must be done separately. (In practice, this means that you should not be looking at other students' solutions as you write your own.) Use examples in the book as a model for the level of detail expected. Write in complete sentences whenever reasonable. Staple loose sheets! Your GSI will grade at least two problems on each homework and spot check the rest; if you have questions about the homework, it is best to ask these in office hours.

Grading: 20% section grade (homeworks and quizzes), 20% midterm 1, 20% midterm 2, 40% final exam. If your section grade or any midterm grade is below your final exam grade, it will be boosted up to the final exam grade. (If all three are below, they will all be boosted.) The course grade will be curved. Click here for an example.

Resources: Student Learning Center, Counseling for academic or other difficulties

Other important things: In general, it is your responsibility to inform me and your GSI as far in advance as possible in case of an unavoidable conflict with an exam, in case of an extended absence, or in case you find yourself struggling with the course for any other reason. If you need disability-related accommodations in this class, if you have emergency medical information you wish to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please inform me immediately: feel free to talk to me privately after class or in my office.