This is a survey course for liberal arts students who may not have had a particularly strong mathematics background. It shows how to interpret the world from a mathematical point of view, and the advantages and understanding that come from doing so. Each topic is introduced at an elementary level, but quickly accelerates to the point where real mathematics is being done. A touchstone for each topic in this course is that it provide opportunity for hands-on activity connecting it with the real world. Nature and Mathematics.
Students bring in real world samples they find for each category listed above.
Students display examples which they find in their own world, or which they create. Measuring the speed of light using starlight. Calculus describes the nature of how things change, and how certain fundamental ideas are interwoven. Calculus is one of the grand achievements of civilization. It can provide students with an eye-opening and exciting way of viewing the world which will remain with them their entire lives.