Sir Isaac's Revenge

Sir Isaac Newton is regarded as one of the greatest scientists and mathematicians of all time. He (along with Liebniz) is recognized as the father of the Calculus.

Now don't get me wrong, I graduated from college with majors in Mathematics and Computer Science — I enjoyed Calculus. I used to teach Computer Science part-time at a community college. Someday I would like to teach the whole Calculus series; Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III, Differential Equations and Partial Differential Equations. Perhaps I will get the chance when I retire.

The issue I have with Sir Isaac is; how did Calculus become synonymous with advanced math? Of the nineteen subjects offered in Advanced Placement courses and exams, the only math offered listed is Calculus. In many universities, students must complete one ot two semesters of Calculus to get degrees in Computer Science or Engineering. Some schools reuire a single semester of Calculus to get any Bachelor of Science degree.

So why Calculus?

Calculus is essential to advanced study in several areas. Theoretical economics, physics, chemistry and engineering. It has applications in both the physical and social sciences. But it is not essential to all fields of study.

For example, in Computer Science, most graduates are required to have two semesters of Calculus. If you ask working computer programmers most will tell you that they never use anything they learned in their required Calculus classes. I have nothing against learning math for learning's sake but why Calculus?

ABET an organization that accredits Computer Science and Engineering programs. ABET membership includes the major Computer Science and Engineering societys like IEEE and ACM. ABET's certification criteria for programs in Computer Science include the following:

IV-10 Course work in mathematics must include discrete mathematics, differential and integral calculus, and probability and statistics.

My suggestion is that for those majors where Calculus is not part of the core requirements, that a choice be offered. Instead of a two semester Calculus sequence, students should be allowed to substitute a two semester sequence in mathematics of equivalent difficulty. Some suggestions: Number Theory, Geometry, Logic, Algebra (advanced), Network Theory, Set Theory etc.

Computer Science students generally consider Calculus to be a weed-out course. In fact my school offered both Computer Science and Management Information Systems majors(MIS). What was the difference? MIS was for students who could not hack Calculus.

Making Calculus a core requirement when it is not really core to the field of study, prevents students from taking courses that might be more applicable to their major and turns many of them off to mathematics in general.