We have been working with
Auntie Derivative and her Family of Functions, also known as the indefinite integral. We have also worked with the definite integral. Which image below illustrates which type of integral?
Did you pick the correct one? The
indefinite integral is a family of functions with a given derivative and the
definite integral is the area under a curve. Incredibly, they are related to each other, as we will soon discover!
What method have we used to approximate the definite integral (starts with a "t")? This method uses a strategy developed by
Archimedes, considered by many to have been the greatest applied mathematician of antiquity. His method for finding areas under curves laid the groundwork for the invention of calculus by Newton and Leibniz two thousand years later. Read this recent New York Times
article by Steven Strogatz, a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University. Professor Strogatz discusses Archimedes
method of exhaustion and many of the ideas we have covered this year: Zeno's Paradox of Motion, infinity, linear approximations, and the underlying basis for calculus - the concept of a limit. Post a short comment on one "take-away" from the article.