Introduction to Calculus

Abstract

This article provides an overview and introduction to calculus. It’s intended for general readers, nonspecialists, and shows the topic’s key concepts in a transparent, approachable way. The article’s purpose is to help readers see that calculus is not only relatively easy to understand, but is a useful and accessible intellectual skill without which some aspects of the the modern world are indecipherable – population growth, space travel, climate change, epidemics and control of diseases, economic policy, investment strategies and others – all of which require a knowledge of how and why things change, the kind of knowledge calculus provides. Some familiarity with secondary school algebra is desirable to be able to follow most of the article’s content. Some new topics, such as functions, are introduced and explained before being used. The article includes tutorial exercises that show concepts without overwhelming the reader in detail, and covers related topics such as differential equations and computer algebra systems.