3 ms·

"Most science" meaning physics. Calculus is of little use to either chemistry or biology. I took three semesters of it, and used very little of since despite ma

"Most science" meaning physics. Calculus is of little use to either chemistry or biology. I took three semesters of it, and used very little of since despite majoring in biochemistry and getting a doctorate in microbiology. On the other hand, I wish I had studied more statistics. That's what is actually useful.

kzrdude 6y ago
Isn't calculus a prerequisite for statistics? Areas and density intuitions from calculus are very helpful.
- ACow_Adonis 6y ago
  the intuitions from calculus are helpful for both statistics and economics and bits of other sciences: derivatives, higher order derivatives, min/max, discontinuities, integrals, etc. however, in my last 10 - 20 years I've never actually calculated an analytical derivative. I think there might be some economists somewhere who are doing so, but in my experience that's generally because they don't understand enough about computers or modelling, and they're just roting 30 year old techniques.
- jhbadger 6y ago
  In curricula yes, you have to take calculus courses first. And yes, maybe in some esoteric proofs you need it. But in real, useful statistics, that is actually analyzing data to see if it is statistically significant, calculus plays no role at all.
dwheeler 6y ago
Calculus is the underpinning of statistics and probability. So you don't get rid of calculus that way :-). I think more discrete math - at least first-order predicate calculus - should be added to high school math. But that would not take a lot of extra time, you could sandwich that into other things.
dbcooper 6y ago
Nonsense. Physical chemistry and thermodynamics are underpinned by calculus. Try studying engineering without calculus ...
- jhbadger 6y ago
  Physical chemistry is a minor subfield of chemistry, one in which I have never had to cause to use, even though my field deals with the chemical byproducts of microbes.
foxyv 6y ago
Chemistry has a great deal to do with calculus. Reaction rates, statistical mechanics, and physical chemistry are a few off the top of my head. That's where all those equations we memorize come from. Sure we could just learn the equations, but then what happens when we run into something that doesn't fit the neat assumptions that were made for that particular equation? Statistics uses calculus heavily as well. It's hard to determine the probability of something lying in a range of a standard distribution without integrals. On the other hand, 90% of the people going through college that take calculus are there to get education to do a job that requires little to no calculus. The hard part is predicting which 10% we should educate. Teaching calculus leaves the option open for that 10% to do the jobs that need it.

kzrdude 6y ago

Isn't calculus a prerequisite for statistics? Areas and density intuitions from calculus are very helpful.

ACow_Adonis 6y ago
the intuitions from calculus are helpful for both statistics and economics and bits of other sciences: derivatives, higher order derivatives, min/max, discontinuities, integrals, etc. however, in my last 10 - 20 years I've never actually calculated an analytical derivative. I think there might be some economists somewhere who are doing so, but in my experience that's generally because they don't understand enough about computers or modelling, and they're just roting 30 year old techniques.
jhbadger 6y ago
In curricula yes, you have to take calculus courses first. And yes, maybe in some esoteric proofs you need it. But in real, useful statistics, that is actually analyzing data to see if it is statistically significant, calculus plays no role at all.

dwheeler 6y ago

Calculus is the underpinning of statistics and probability. So you don't get rid of calculus that way :-). I think more discrete math - at least first-order predicate calculus - should be added to high school math. But that would not take a lot of extra time, you could sandwich that into other things.

dbcooper 6y ago

Nonsense. Physical chemistry and thermodynamics are underpinned by calculus. Try studying engineering without calculus ...

jhbadger 6y ago
Physical chemistry is a minor subfield of chemistry, one in which I have never had to cause to use, even though my field deals with the chemical byproducts of microbes.

foxyv 6y ago

Chemistry has a great deal to do with calculus. Reaction rates, statistical mechanics, and physical chemistry are a few off the top of my head. That's where all those equations we memorize come from. Sure we could just learn the equations, but then what happens when we run into something that doesn't fit the neat assumptions that were made for that particular equation? Statistics uses calculus heavily as well. It's hard to determine the probability of something lying in a range of a standard distribution without integrals. On the other hand, 90% of the people going through college that take calculus are there to get education to do a job that requires little to no calculus. The hard part is predicting which 10% we should educate. Teaching calculus leaves the option open for that 10% to do the jobs that need it.