Timeline for Advanced Calculus vs. Analysis for a first proof-based course
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 2015 at 0:24 | answer | added | Christopher Wilde | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jun 2, 2014 at 18:28 | comment | added | Dave L Renfro | In the U.S. I think the rise of advanced calculus (which occurred in the early 1900s and lasted until the 1970s or 1980s, depending on where you were) was to satisfy the training of advanced scientists and engineers along with that of mathematics students in a way that Goursat/Hedrick's classic text A Course in Mathematical Analysis was too advanced for. I think the downfall was due to the 2-semester length being too constraining for departments and students, both those wanting to take newer courses in combinatorics and such, as well as those wanting to get to graduate real analysis. | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 22:40 | answer | added | WetlabStudent | timeline score: 12 | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 22:25 | comment | added | WetlabStudent | Advanced calculus is extremely ill-defined. At several schools it is identical to "undergraduate real analysis" and the word "real analysis" is reserved for a graduate course in Measure Theory + Functional Analysis. Some places it is merely an honors calculus sequence that has some proofs. Other places it is a sort of soft real analysis designed for math education majors and quantitative scientists who are interested in math. And of course there is also the vector calculus type. | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 14:04 | comment | added | Mark Fantini | James, you could expand on that and turn it into an answer. | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 4:27 | comment | added | ncr | In addition to the changing profile of calculus courses as described by @JamesS.Cook, I think the expansion of courses in discrete mathematics (e.g., combinatorics, cryptography, graph theory) without the corresponding expansion of departmental resources has had an effect on the number of "Advanced Calculus" courses. | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 2:15 | comment | added | Mark Fantini | I recognize that one of the problems of the so-called "Advanced Calculus" course is that it is ill-defined. Most of what I've seen involve vector calculus but the rest is probably chosen by taste. I'm in a rush now, but I'll see to add that information later, vonbrand. | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 1:59 | comment | added | James S. Cook | I started to write an answer, but, honestly, Advanced Calculus is not well-defined. I know about 3 different courses which you might call "Advanced Calculus". At my school, the reason for the shift is in part due to an extension of the calculus sequence to 4hr courses which get to the vector calculus. Also, the introduction of a "transitions" course with proof writing etc... removed some of the other motivation. | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 1:59 | comment | added | vonbrand | Interesting question, but I'm afraid it needs a bit of localization. What school(s) have this course sequence? Is it common in a particular country? When was the other sequence common? | |
| Jun 1, 2014 at 1:46 | history | edited | Benjamin Dickman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Mostly I wanted to fix the "it's" to "its" typo; but, while I was at it, I re-formatted and added the 'vector-calculus' tag.
|
| Jun 1, 2014 at 1:34 | history | asked | Mark Fantini | CC BY-SA 3.0 |