Read Infinite Powers How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe Steven Strogatz 9781328879981 Books

Product details Hardcover 384 pages Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 2, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1328879984

Infinite Powers How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe Steven Strogatz 9781328879981 Books Reviews

• First off, this book is not a textbook. You won't be reading it and doing homework or taking tests or solving equations and checking the back of the book to see if you got them right - thank goodness! This is a book that makes it possible for anyone (well, maybe not ANYONE, but anyone who is interested enough to try) to understand what Calculus is and the basics of how it works and why...
  
  But why would you want to do that? Well, as the author asserts in the beginning of the book, Calculus is the language of God. Perhaps even more interestingly, he says that Calculus is the operating system or computer language that animates EVERYTHING from moment to moment and place to place.
  
  So consider this; if you've EVER thought that maybe we are in a simulation - a virtual reality - then Calculus is the game engine code that our universe uses to draw the world we are playing the game in right now.
  
  If you can imagine God as a computer game coder, and he set out to create a game called "Humanity" or "Life in the Universe As We Know It" - then instead of sitting down with UnReal Engine or Unity or Java or C++, he chose Calculus. Calculus is the language he programmed the Universe with and the more we understand the code, the more we understand the Universe.
  
  That's kind of fascinating if you think about it - AND it is coexists with the Bible just fine. The Bible doesn't tell us the details of how God created the Universe or what he used to create it - The Bible just says he did it. Calculus is the "language" or a way for us to be able to tell what it is going to do next. My son and I have intense conversations about things like this - and this book makes them far more interesting.
  
  I took Calculus in college several decades ago. I was a C student. I also took Differential Equations, and did much better. I felt like Calculus was the tools and D.E. was using the tools to do things. This book explains the tools and it is fascinating. I recommend it for anyone who is even a little curious about how our universe works, or also anyone who appreciates the artistic beauty of the order in our universe. Calculus is fascinating and even exciting if it is explained by the right person, and with Infinite Powers How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe, Steven Strogatz is the right person to do it. I highly recommend this book if you are even slightly interested in how the universe and the world around you works.
  
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• When I was in college I majored in mathematics, and calculus wasn’t as big a challenge to me as it is for others (statistics, however, is another matter entirely). Calculus was the backbone of my major and it was foundational when it came to most of the other courses I took, and this included advanced algebra and more abstract mathematics. Now, that said, in many cases I understood the “how” but not the “why”. In a few cases, I saw some parallels with algebra and how calculus could short-cut certain processes (sort of) to arrive at the same result, but even so, the subject remained a black art even though it was clear [to me] what to do.
  
  What this book does is explain some of the why. It’s not a dry, dull read that throws theorems and formulas at you with brief explanations. Instead, there are real-world examples that show why calculus is the means to the end. Instead of gagging you with straight theory and practice like a class textbook, it brings calculus down to a level that makes it much more interesting and, in a tangible way, fun. Now, it does not offer comprehensive coverage, of course; my calculus textbook from college is a full 1,000 pages and covers a lot of more obscure stuff that this book doesn’t mention, but that’s not this book’s intention. The idea here is to give a more high-level coverage with application.
  
  I sure wish I had this book when I was struggling with the subject; knowing the “why” makes the “how” a lot easier to work through.
  
  I’m still working my way through this book, but so far it has been very enjoyable and thought provoking. What I have read so far has made the subject of calculus a lot more interesting, even though I already have a handle on the mechanics of it. If you have struggled with calculus, this book is a way to build more understanding and appreciation. If you’re more curious and just want to know what it’s about, it’s a good starting point.