Tell a high school physics teacher that calculus has nothing to do
with the real world ? The essence of the " real world " for science is
MATTER IN MOTION and CHANGE.
Calculus deals with a world in motion and
instantaneous rates of change. Almost all your high school math courses -
including introductory calculus -come together- making pragmatic and
theoretical sense - in First Year Physics.
All that really matters for
philistines is consumer math, of course.
Science literacy is
all but impossible without elementary algebra- the language of science.
And the ABCs of statistics can discredit fraudulent advertising
claims; or nonsense like " people are living longer nowadays and so we
must reset the Social Security retirement age to 70."
In other words higher math is a SHIT detector- a threat to the capitalist profit system.
Years ago a Professor Morris Kline wrote a book titled " Why the
Professor Can't Teach " ( including calculus ) . It is still relevant.
Kline also wrote " Mathematics and the Physical World ". For Kline math has a lot to do with the real world.
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