[Discuss] OT: Do CS grads need calculus?

[dbarrett at blazemonger.com (Daniel Barrett)]

On April 14, 2015, John Abreau wrote:
>As I recall, all the math classes I took before calculus could essentially
>be summarized as "here's a bunch of magic formulas[...]"
>Calculus is the key to truly understanding mathematics in
>depth. Those other "alternatives", like Probability, would be nothing
>more than another set of memorized magic in the absence of calculus.

You've identified an important distinction, but I believe you've
misattributed the source.  This isn't a difference between the content
of precalculus and calculus. It's a difference between shallow and
in-depth courses; e.g., between high school classes and
university level math.

Any flavor of mathematics can be taught in depth. My university
courses in algebra, numerical analysis, probability, combinatorics,
computational geometry, etc., were filled with rich detail, not
memorization. Any of these topics (in my opinion) would be suitable as
a CS student's first thought-provoking, mind-expanding university
course in math.  Calculus plays that role today because a bunch of
people did it that way, and now "we've always done it that way."

Most people with a college education probably associate algebra with
rote memorizing of the quadratic formula. It's definitely more than
that. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_theory for an example.

--
Dan Barrett
dbarrett at blazemonger.com