why study calculus?
The intarweb is less than helpful on this subject. The best arguments I can find are ones I've already thought of, which aren't terribly convincing to me (hence consulting the informatio-sphere). Any thoughts?
Backstory: I have a friend at work with a teenage daughter (8th grade) who is already excelling in math, and (currently) wants to be veterinarian. However, the daughter doesn't seem to actually like math, and is looking for reasons to stop or slow this, and is particularly resistant to the idea of taking a calculus course eventually. She - friend, not daughter - asked me, knowing I took higher level math courses in high school, if I had any reasons why studying calculus would be worthwhile.
The only argument that made the least bit of sense to me was that derivatives and antiderivatives are the study of rates of change. Rates of change are everywhere in science-related fields, including any medical or veterinarian program. My on-the-spot example for being a vet was drug delivery: it's important to know the rate of absorption of an anesthetic or other intravenous drug, and know how much concentration is required for the drug to be effective. Therefore rates are important, and calculus (the study of rates of change of variables) is important. (And important, not for actively evaluating integrals during drug delivery, but mostly for the deeper understanding of why certain choices are made. Of course, the mother can see this, but I doubt the daughter will get the subtleties.)
Of course, when I actually look up vet programs online, I find calculus courses are generally suggested, but not always required. And I haven't once evaluated integrals or calculated derivatives in my current job, which draws heavily on my physics background. Granted, the concepts from calculus help, but I'm willing to bet this 8th grader won't buy the argument without concrete examples.
I guess I'm mostly frustrated at either my web-searching skills, or that nobody seems to be able to give a reason for studying calculus other than: some silly "historical" or "beauty" reason, the "prerequisite for physics, chemistry, advanced math" reason, or some other reason that even an 8th grader can find a simple, reasonable objection to. (Maybe there isn't really a better reason? Gah. And curse my brain for fixating on this. =)
Backstory: I have a friend at work with a teenage daughter (8th grade) who is already excelling in math, and (currently) wants to be veterinarian. However, the daughter doesn't seem to actually like math, and is looking for reasons to stop or slow this, and is particularly resistant to the idea of taking a calculus course eventually. She - friend, not daughter - asked me, knowing I took higher level math courses in high school, if I had any reasons why studying calculus would be worthwhile.
The only argument that made the least bit of sense to me was that derivatives and antiderivatives are the study of rates of change. Rates of change are everywhere in science-related fields, including any medical or veterinarian program. My on-the-spot example for being a vet was drug delivery: it's important to know the rate of absorption of an anesthetic or other intravenous drug, and know how much concentration is required for the drug to be effective. Therefore rates are important, and calculus (the study of rates of change of variables) is important. (And important, not for actively evaluating integrals during drug delivery, but mostly for the deeper understanding of why certain choices are made. Of course, the mother can see this, but I doubt the daughter will get the subtleties.)
Of course, when I actually look up vet programs online, I find calculus courses are generally suggested, but not always required. And I haven't once evaluated integrals or calculated derivatives in my current job, which draws heavily on my physics background. Granted, the concepts from calculus help, but I'm willing to bet this 8th grader won't buy the argument without concrete examples.
I guess I'm mostly frustrated at either my web-searching skills, or that nobody seems to be able to give a reason for studying calculus other than: some silly "historical" or "beauty" reason, the "prerequisite for physics, chemistry, advanced math" reason, or some other reason that even an 8th grader can find a simple, reasonable objection to. (Maybe there isn't really a better reason? Gah. And curse my brain for fixating on this. =)