What’s Natural about 2.7182818… and How Fermat Invented Integration

Everyone knows that calculus was invented by Newton. Or Leibniz. Actually, the real inventor was Isaac Barrow (Newton’s teacher), but Pierre de Fermat (1601–1661) solved all three of the main problems of calculus:  finding tangents, extreme values, and areas under a curve. We’ll introduce Fermat’s method, then show how it leads to the familiar result that the integral of 1/x is ln x, and e as the base of the natural logarithmic function.
 
Jeff Suzuki was probably born indecisive, and double majored in history and mathematics with a concentration in physics. He avoided having to choose between them by writing a dissertation on the history of celestial mechanics. Since then, he’s done everything possible to avoid specialization, venturing into constitutional law, patents, and mathematics education, and as of this past weekend, is looking into the possibility of developing an open-world game based around mathematics.
 

---

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST/GMT-5

Location: RKC 111

Subscribe: Save this Event: Subscribe / .ics File