Why is calculus important to know?

Question

My teacher says that we only had 200 years of Calculus, and look at all the great things we accomplished because of it. Before calculus, we had very little science and very little math, as to now, where every day there's a new breakthrough.

Why is calculus so important, and why do I need to learn it? I get bored in class because it's all math about functions and deriving and distance vs time, it's a complete waste of time in my opinion. How will this help me in computer science? How will this help me program in python or make websites?

Please let me know, I'm dying to find out. Geometry I know is helpful in the construction of buildings. Algebra I know is extremely useful in every day life. Statistics are extremely useful as well. Trigonometry, I can't find any useful application for it. Same with calculus, why is calculus important to know?

Answer 1

You honestly have no idea what calculus really is. You're probably studying basic level calculus that's only the tip of the iceberg in the field of calculus.



You say statistics is extremely useful, but how did it become useful? The continuous probability functions use integration to calculate certain probability measures. Where is integration from? You probably wouldn't think of it but it's calculus.



If you do choose to learn calculus in university, perhaps at the 2nd year level and beyond, you'll notice that it is important to the field physics, natural sciences, and financial mathematics.



You also wonder how this will help with your programming. Well, think of when you want to optimize the running time of your code? You will learn notations such as Big O and Big Omega that analyze the running time of a code and how you can be a better programmer by making your code run faster than you could ever imagine. This is all in high level computer science courses in university. You probably have guessed where I'm going with this: you use calculus to figure out how you can make your code better.



Please don't think of this with your narrow mind set of high school. Hopefully, you'll see why calculus is important once you reach post secondary studies.



Hope this helps.

Answer 2

("Why is calculus important to know?")

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Of all the mathematical operations, trigonometry and calculus are probably the most meaningful. Without trigonometry, we would never have discovered the true nature of the shape of our own planet and the distance to the stars. We would still be thinking that the earth is flat and the stars are tiny fires in the night sky.



Calculus is the mathematics that describes how life behaves, it describes how nature works. Calculus tells you how to 'derive' the other formulas that describes how any given aspect of nature works. In other words, without a solid complete background in mathematics you cannot fully understand how the world and the Universe operates.



(".... How will this help me in computer science?")

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If you are seeking a university degree in computer science, get ready to learn a "lot" of calculus. If you are asked to write a program that will show what the shape of an object will appear to be when a set of equations are made to revolve around the x- or y-axis, you will have a very hard time doing it without a good knowledge of trig., and calculus. Or, in reverse, your employer gives you an object of nonlinear shape and says: write a computer program that gives and accurate mathematical description of this object so that a client can duplicate it, what would you do without calculus?



Mathematics is a language just like any other language, it communicates information but you must first learn to speak the language. When you learn to ask the question: what is this equation trying to tell me about nature, and where did this equation come from? Then you will be on the road to understanding the real meaning and beauty behind mathematics.



Here's a couple of sources you might find useful:



MathTutorDVD.com

http://mathtutordvd.com/



The Great Courses

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/



Best regards

Answer 3

"we had very little science and very little math, as to now"



Your teacher is incorrect. You must be in high school, because only a high school teacher would say something like that. A lot of the stuff we know today came from ancient times not from the last 200 years.



To answer your question though. You don't "need" calculus in computer science, not unless you wanted to create some kind of complex algorithm in which your programming skills alone would be sufficient. The smartest computer science majors at my school have low GPA's and hate math haha.

Answer 4

Because Calculus is the most advanced branch of mathematics. Isaac Newton invented Calculus. Physicists and engineers use Calculus like playing games in every single day. Physicists are the most intelligent people in the world. Are you going to say that they're useless? And how is Statistics extremely useful when it's all about finding the probabilities about the events? There's a saying that claims one can never rely on Statistics because it lies to us every time. Without Calculus, Physics wouldn't exists.

Answer 5

Look at things from a different perspective and you'll answer your own question. You're looking at it too literally.