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From: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Intelligence
Message-ID: <608@unc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Jul-85 16:39:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: unc.608
Posted: Tue Jul 16 16:39:37 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 04:02:37 EDT
References: <456@ttidcc.UUCP> <457@ttidcc.UUCP> <1586@hao.UUCP>
Reply-To: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Organization: CS Dept., U. of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 23
Summary: 

In article  hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) writes:
>
>I'm wondering how many calculus lovers out there have  jobs  where  they're
>required  to _use_ calculus. [...] Most of the people I know who've been
>required to  study calculus for their degrees tell me they've _never used it
>since college_.
>
>Given the above, what is the justification for forcing _everyone_ to  study
>calculus?

Very few jobs require the _USE_ of calculus.  But many require
_UNDERSTANDING_ it.  The concepts and terminology of calculus is
useful for describing and understanding many complicated functions
and relationships that exist in real life.

For example, at University of North Carolina, even business majors
must learn a little calculus.  Concepts such as marginal tax rates,
marginal profits and costs, etc can be explained in half a page
to someone who understands functions, limits and derivatives.
To express these concepts without resorting to mathematical language
would take much more time.

	Frank Silbermann