Math 102
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Course overview
As with any course on differential calculus, the central character in this course is the derivative. The course starts by building up to the limit definition of the derivative and procedes through analytical, graphical and numerical approaches to build students' understanding of several types of functions and their derivatives. Next, we cover optimization, with applications to biological systems as well as principles of data fitting. A section on growth, decay and periodic phenomena precedes an introduction to differential equations and their use in modeling of biological systems. We finish the term with an introduction to probability and statistics and their application to the life sciences.
One big difference between this course and a more traditional calculus course is the inclusion of examples and applications from the life sciences in place of the more traditional emphasis on physics. These examples and applications come from a wide range of fields including biochemistry, cell biology, ecology, genetics, population biology and evolution. Another difference between this course and a more traditional calculus course is the inclusion of the section on probability and statistics. Although these topics are important in many areas of science, they are rarely addressed in a first year mathematics course. Given the importance of these topics in the life sciences, both through their role in experiment design and data analysis and their importance in characterizing biological diversity, and the fact that many students taking this class will not see these topics in any later mathematics courses, they have been included here to give students some early exposure.
General-reference links
- Course policies - outlining general course policies. For section-specific policies, see your section's web page (links below).
- Assignments - some information on the assignments.
- Success strategies - advice for succeeding in this course.
- Getting help - a list of learning resources associated with the course.
Everyday links (see side-bar menu as well)
- Course-wide announcements - these course-wide announcements may also be included on your section-specific announcements page.
- Course calendar - important dates (exams, holidays, etc.) and a day-by-day breakdown of the content to be covered.
- WeBWork - a link directly to the online homework system.
- Labs - lab descriptions and due dates.
- Piazza - the online discussion forum for the course.
- Course notes - a collection of pdf files written by Prof. Leah Keshet that serves as the course textbook.
- Practice problems - exercises associated with the course notes, homework problems from previous years and other supplemental problems.
Section links
- Section 101 - (MWF 10 am) Instructor: Eric Cytrynbaum
- Section 102 - (MWF 8 am) Instructor: Tyler Helmuth
- Section 103 - (MWF 1 pm) Instructor: Giovanni Ghigliotti
- Section 104 - (MWF 1 pm) Instructor: Gonzalo Davila
- Section 105 - (TTh 9:30 am) Instructor: Jielin Zhu
- Section 106 - (MWF 9 am) Instructor: Young-Heon Kim
A list of all subpages of this page (Math 102)
All information for students on day one, rolled into a single page.
