hi doctormatt perhaps we could say that a derivative is the rate of change of a function or quantity at a certain time that seems fairly unequivocal and much more accessible than what is currently there i'm not so much a proponent of my own version so much as an opponent of the use of the meaningless to the non mathematical word instantaneous i don't really mind the differentiation thing being right after the initial sentence because people might have clicked on the derivative page after going to differentiation a disambig page it's certainly grammatical to say finding a derivative is called differentiation see gerund however now that i think about it maybe we should just say differentiation is the process of finding a derivative we put the sentence in the active voice your thoughts best