[Discuss] OT: Do CS grads need calculus?

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

On 04/14/2015 12:20 PM, John Abreau wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 2:38 AM, Bill Bogstad <bogstad at pobox.com> wrote:
>
>
>> I will state it again.  YES, Calculus is good.  It stretches your
>> mind.  The specific
>> things it teaches you may or may not be relevant to what you plan to
>> do.  Other branches
>> of mathematics also stretch your mind, they may be more relevant.  Is
>> it really so hard
>> to accept the theoretical possibility that the above might be true?
>> Not for all people/but for some.
>>
>
> As I recall, all the math classes I took before calculus could essentially
> be summarized as "here's a bunch of magic formulas to solve various
> problems. Memorize them and learn when to use each of them".
>
> Then calculus explained in detail how those formulas were derived. They
> were no longer magic. Calculus is the key to truly understanding
> mathematics in depth. Those other "alternatives", like Probability, would
> be nothing more than another set of memorized magic in the absence of
> calculus.
>
> There's a qualitative difference between understanding a problem in depth,
> and merely following a set of formulas that you've memorized but that you
> don't really understand.
>
>
Not sure if I agree with you. I had trouble in my first college math
course because the instructor (a graduate student) talked in such a deep
Mississippi accent that I never could understand him. He flunked out
himself that semester. His twin brother was a graduate student in
history and his younger brother was a student dorm master. The dorm
master was a nice guy but was in Irby and I was in Phelps. (dorm
competition). My statistics professors were excellent. We used curve
fitting in a number of courses including economics, finance  and
management science. A lot of this was curve fitting and understanding
how and why they work. But I do agree with JABR in that calculus does
explain a lot. And a few years in New Orleans allowed me to understand
deep South accents.

-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
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