Timeline for Why do we teach calculus students the derivative as a limit?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
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| Mar 7, 2020 at 22:27 | comment | added | LSpice | @GlenWheeler, as far as the concept of the slope of the tangent line via a limit goes, it works just as well to consider $\lim\limits_{\substack{(x, y) \in C \\ (x, y) \to (x_0, y_0) \\ x \ne x_0}} \dfrac{y - y_0}{x - x_0}$; this makes sense for any curve, though it fails for points on vertical segments. | |
| Oct 21, 2014 at 4:03 | comment | added | Glen Wheeler | It can create issues for students (due to their typical lack of logic skills in first year) to think about derivatives giving a criterion for the existence of tangent lines. This is because the first thing they think of after a line is a circle, and the tangent to a circle is hard to describe in this way. | |
| Apr 3, 2011 at 21:11 | comment | added | Toby Bartels | I also learnt calculus in high school using the $\epsilon$-$\delta$ definition. This was an ordinary public (state-run) high school in the United States. | |
| Oct 19, 2010 at 14:11 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by S. Carnahan♦ | ||
| Sep 27, 2010 at 12:29 | history | edited | Tommaso Centeleghe | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
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| Sep 27, 2010 at 12:22 | comment | added | Pietro Majer | As you probably know, the Italian government is now planning to gradually change the high school teaching programs into three main topics: "Religion", "Use of guns", "Commercials". So the content of the maths programs of the Italian high school is becoming soon a historical topic. If this is the trend, I guess (I hope) Italy itself will become soon a historical topic too :-( | |
| Sep 27, 2010 at 6:27 | history | answered | Tommaso Centeleghe | CC BY-SA 2.5 |