View Single Post
  #14  
Old 08-14-2007, 12:29 AM
jamzfive jamzfive is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: PA, USA
Posts: 181
Default Re: calc 1 vs calc 2 vs calc 3

I was a double math and compsci major in college. I took calc I in HS, and it was a breeze. Got a 5 on the AP exam. Semi-brag, but I mention it mostly to point out that I didn't suck at math.

I found Calc II interminably boring. Not as much real calculus as series, etc. I called it "approximations of calculus". Lots of summing rectangles and triangles.

Calc III was hell. Once I got out of 2 dimensions, I lost all ability to "see" what I was doing. It was around this time I decided to focus more on the compsci, and less on the math. Spatial visualization is a good skill to have for calc III.

Don't get me started on complex analysis. 4 dimensions?? I wanted to die. As Unoriginalname pointed out, never underestimate the power of the curve.

jb
Reply With Quote