# I want to learn calculus. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263 "2003-06-25T11:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![flonks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@flonks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flonks)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263/21 "2003-06-27T13:00:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*How can I be sure I _don’t_ need it until I find out what it does? \*\* That’s right, but according to that argument you need to learn everything, every piece of knowledge that exists on earth, which is impossible. I’d say a carpenter doesn’t need nonlinear optimization theory for his work. The only motivation to learn it would be that he is interested in it, which is of course a noble motivation. But he is most likely to forget it soon afterwards, if he doesn’t use it on a regular basis. What do you do for a living? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263/22 "2003-06-27T22:07:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flonks \* > \*\*That’s right, but according to that argument you need to learn everything, every piece of knowledge that exists on earth \*\*Yes, YES! > [@](#): > > \*\*which is impossible. \*\*Damn! > [@](#): > > \*\*What do you do for a living? \*\* I’m an IT Generalist (Management) by profession, but I have an annoying habit of sticking fingers into all kinds of other, diverse pies just out of plain curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263/23 "2003-06-28T02:50:08Z")
Calculus finally made intuitive sense to me when I read this book some years back: [Calculus the Easy Way](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812091418/qid=1056768772/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0285383-5067859?v=glance&s=books) ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263/24 "2003-06-28T03:06:22Z")
Do they make an “Inverse Trig Substitution the Easy Way” book? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263/25 "2003-06-28T07:29:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > I think you should learn calculus. Everyone who is capable of learning it should learn it. A sound understanding of calculus changes the way you look at things. You develop an intuitive understanding of how things change. You start to undertand a lot of things that go on around you in different ways. It’s mind expanding. Yeah, but you only need to get an understanding of the basic concepts, there’s really no need to deal with gruesome calculations of multiple integrations or PDE systems with boundary conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263/26 "2003-06-28T07:49:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*How can I be sure I _don’t_ need it until I find out what it does? \*\* How can I be sure I won’t like jabbing this harpoon into my eyeball unless I do it? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263/27 "2003-06-28T07:59:43Z")
_Roots through closet_ What you need is: _Calculus Made Easy Being A Very-Simplest Introduction To Those Beautiful Methods Of Reckoning Which Are Generally Called By The Terrifying Names Of The DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS And The INTEGRAL CALCULUS_. Don’t let the name fool you, it was written in the late 1800’s and finally published in 1910 under the the pseudonym F.R.S (fellow of the Royal Society) by Silvanus P. Thompson, professor of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury England. This book was the first of its kind ever written and is still the best. And damn the lack of a centering function. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-learn-calculus/184263.md?page=1)