# "Calculus" vs "the calculus" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135 "2010-12-06T12:09:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/1 "2010-12-06T12:09:44Z")
While reading a Comment is Free article on mathematics over at the Guardian’s website today, I was struck by a usage that I found quaint and dated - which, coming from someone who thinks nothing of using the word “thrice” in everyday conversation, is saying something. The author of this piece used the phrase “the calculus” while describing Newton and Liebniz’s tussle over who invented it, and that immediately jarred. I’ve always called it calculus - I’ve studied calculus, I’ve done calculus, I’ve forgotten calculus, I’ve read about the history of calculus. I’ve also never - that I can remember - heard anyone say anything different. Does anyone preferentially use the phrase “the calculus” any more? Is it one of those strictly correct but yet very dated-sounding constructions? Poll coming. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/2 "2010-12-06T13:21:18Z")
I do occasionally see it referred to as “the calculus,” even in modern contexts. (For example, the title of David Berlinksi’s book _A Tour of the Calculus_—though Berlinski is stylistically quirky.) I suppose the phrasing “the calculus” could be useful to distinguish the most common meaning from the [other sorts of “calculus” there are](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculus_(disambiguation)), but I agree it sounds slightly pretentious. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/3 "2010-12-06T15:12:47Z")
Bwahahahaha. I had a high school math teacher who called it “the calculus” as a joke, referring to some of his own teachers from wayback. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/4 "2010-12-06T19:19:38Z")
Somewhat related to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=587659), I would use the calculus to help with my diabeetus, plain old calculus for other purposes. Seriously, “the calculus” reminds me of Wilford Brimley. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/5 "2010-12-06T19:30:59Z")
I have probably used, and certainly read and heard, the phrase “the calculus,” but not in reference to _calculus_. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/6 "2010-12-06T19:44:13Z")
Ordinarily I eschew the definite article, but sometimes I need to annoy someone and saying “the calculus” is the quickest way. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/7 "2010-12-06T20:01:50Z")
The Batman calls it the calculus. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/8 "2010-12-07T06:10:52Z")
In my calc and analytical geometry class, it was introduced as “the infinitesimal calculus”. We never used the phrase after that, but I’ve always liked it. It actually gives you a hint as to how calculus works. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/9 "2010-12-07T09:44:42Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > The author of this piece used the phrase “the calculus” while describing Newton and Liebniz’s tussle over who invented it, and that immediately jarred. I’ve always called it calculus - I’ve studied calculus, I’ve done calculus, I’ve forgotten calculus, I’ve read about the history of calculus. I’ve also never - that I can remember - heard anyone say anything different. I think Newton Himself referred to it as 'the calculus", which is propbably why the author used the archaic phrasing. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/10 "2010-12-07T13:13:02Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Ordinarily I eschew the definite article, but sometimes I need to annoy someone and saying “the calculus” is the quickest way. I suppose that’s a valid approach, but how many people does that actually work on? 😛 > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The Batman calls it the calculus. And what of the Superman? Not to mention, of course, the Incredible Hulk and the Phantom. > [@Alessan](#): > > I think Newton Himself referred to it as 'the calculus", which is propbably why the author used the archaic phrasing. I’m not sure about that, because he’s writing in a contemporary context and only referring to the historical event in passing, but you can make your own mind up: > **[Sexing up mathematics does not compute | Jonathan Farley](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/05/mathematics-us-television)** > > Jonathan Farley: Several films and TV shows have sweated to put an x rating into algebra, but it's mathematics that's sexy, not mathematicians > [@](#): > > This is not the greatest smackdown in the history of mathematics – the Newton-Leibniz debate over who invented the calculus ranks a tad higher – but it may surprise you that it is not even the first controversy involving mathematics and sex. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/11 "2010-12-07T13:49:26Z")
Proves my point, doesn’t it? Newton and/or Leibniz invented “the calculus” because that’s what they called it. Its a bit of a scholarly affectation from the article’s writer. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/12 "2010-12-07T14:15:00Z")
Math vs. Maths. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/13 "2010-12-07T14:22:19Z")
I’ve heard and read it called “the calculus”, but it’s rare, and, as the OP says, somewhat archaic. All my professors, in science or math, always left off the “the”, and my co-workers have never used “the”. And this despite the fact that there are other forms of “calculus” that could conceivably be confused with this Mathematics of Changing Rates. For reasons that have never been clear to me, the matrix methods for dealing with polarized light are called “Jone Calculus” and “Mueller Calculus”, even though they have nothing to do with infinitesimals, yet no one has ever confused these with, say Calculus of Variations, which does involve differentials. Historically, of course “calculus” can refer to any sort of computation, and goes back to the word _calculi_, meaning “little stones”. This suggests, to me at least, that the term dates back to a time when stones were the mechanism of calculation, probably with a makeshift abacus. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/14 "2010-12-07T15:15:20Z")
I’ve definitely heard “the calculus” before, numerous times, although probably never in spoken conversation. > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Math vs. Maths. Ugh, don’t get me started. The next time someone tries to correct me for using “math” – because, supposedly, it doesn’t make sense – I’m going to scream. And probably have a reason to choose differently in the “have you killed anyone” poll going on right now. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/15 "2010-12-07T16:47:47Z")
Fluxions, I’m old school. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/16 "2010-12-07T17:24:58Z")
I’ve assumed that Newton referred to it as “the calculus” and it just got shortened over time - once it lost its direct meaning (i.e., chopping a continuous space into little bits, i.e., little pieces of calculus) and the word became the “offical brand name” of that genre of math. I have shared this on the ‘Dope in the past - I was at an exhibit at the Grolier’s Club, THE hoity-toidy book collectors club in NYC. A Swiss collector’s pieces were on display - including \*Leibniz’ copy of Newton’s Principia \*- it had notes in the margins! The stuffy old place offered no insight on the translations - I can only assume that Gottfried was writing stuff like “yep,” “nope,” and “oh, you wish it worked that way, you British twit” 😉 The collector acquired it from Leiden University who had two copies and so sold the marked-up one :rolleyes::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/17 "2010-12-07T17:47:04Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Does anyone preferentially use the phrase “the calculus” any more? Is it one of those strictly correct but yet very dated-sounding constructions? Answered other. I’ve only ever heard “calculus” used to refer to the mathematical discipline dealing with derivatives and integrals. However, on several occasions I’ve seen the phrase “the calculus” used to describe an analysis (mathematical or otherwise) done in support of some action, e.g. “the calculus behind the decision to invade North Korea.” ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/18 "2010-12-09T10:47:25Z")
I only rarely (but more often than never) write about this subject, but when I do, I tend to say “the calculus” for the first mention, and then just “calculus” on subsequent mentions. In casual speech, though, I don’t think I’ve ever said the “the.” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/19 "2010-12-09T16:09:30Z")
A _calculus_ is simply a system for figuring out certain sorts of problems. There are a gazillion fields of mathematics called \_\_\_\_\_ Calculus. Examples are relational calculus, lambda calculus, and so on. But when unqualified, “calculus” refers to the infinitesimal calculus, or if you want to be more specific, differential or integral calculus. It makes little sense to refer to it as _the_ calculus, since there are in fact many calculi. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135/20 "2010-12-09T22:29:49Z")
> [@dzero](#): > > In my calc and analytical geometry class, it was introduced as “the infinitesimal calculus”. We never used the phrase after that, but I’ve always liked it. It actually gives you a hint as to how calculus works. It’s not so much that it tells you what calculus is about, but it tells you which calculus you are referring to. There is lower predicate calculus (the logic of tautologies), for one and various others for different purposes (although the word is not much used any more). A calculus is a scheme for calculating something. The infinitesimal calculus was the scheme for calculating with infinitesimals. Neither Newton nor Leibniz knew what an infinitesimal and neither did anyone else until a mathematical logician named Abraham Robinson worked out a rigorous approach to infinitesimals around 50 years ago. Sadly, it has not made much pedagogical progress and it is still taught the old-fashioned way with epsilons and deltas. Anyway, when I was teaching it, I usually just called it calculus, like everyone else. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculus-vs-the-calculus/563135.md?page=2)