Learning About Archimedes of Syracuse in the History of Calculus

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It's very easy to say that Isaac Newton introduced the wondrous tool of calculus. Maybe, learning how to implement physics into calculus. However, one can think that the history of mathematics is very long. As far as history permits, we can learn about the mathematics of the Greeks. A lot of ancient structures are a testament to the usage of engineering mathematics in ancient times.

From MacTutor, I would like to share this amazing fact about Archimedes of Syracuse with his amazing discovery:

Archimedes was the greatest mathematician of his age. His contributions in geometry revolutionised the subject and his methods anticipated the integral calculus. He was a practical man who invented a wide variety of machines including pulleys and the Archimidean screw pumping device.

At first, mathematics in the classroom feels dull and lifeless. I think it's because there's hardly any exposure to the applications. I felt that too that it was a dull mental exercise. I found in college that calculus is part of life, and all mathematics is part of life. The more I read history, the more I felt like I regret hating mathematics in my teenager years. Though, I still feel that the way mathematics is taught might be encouraging more hatred than love for such a wonderful subject. 

The calculus I'm familiar with is differential calculus. I'd like to do more research on integral calculus as I try to overcome my old-age fear of mathematics. Knowing history may help more students get more interested in the fascinating world of mathematics. 

Integral Calculus is the branch of calculus where we study integrals and their properties. Integration is an essential concept which is the inverse process of differentiation. Both the integral and differential calculus are related to each other by the fundamental theorem of calculus. In this article, you will learn what is integral calculus, why it is used, its types, formulas, examples, and applications of integral calculus in detail.

Now, for the applications:

Application of Integral Calculus

The important applications of integral calculus are as follows. Integration is applied to find:

  • The area between two curves
  • Centre of mass
  • Kinetic energy
  • Surface area
  • Work
  • Distance, velocity and acceleration
  • The average value of a function
  • Volume 

I can't exactly talk much about calculus. The area between two curves is used also in finances and economics. Granted, I'm no economist so I might need to read more about how it's used. Meanwhile, I'm here now trying to get more people who hate mathematics to actually like it. I overcame my hate for it. I believe that teaching about mathematics' long history and applications may slowly help overcome a phobia for it. 

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