In the past ten years, the importance of mathematics in the life sciences has been growing at at a fast clip. Realizing this, Professor Sondra Lazarowitz of the School of Life Sciences in 1991 noted that Life Science students had a very poor impression of calculus and often slid by with a C or worse. When she asked them why, they said that there was little in the standard calculus course for them. They felt it was a course for engineers only. It did not connect with their professional plans.
BioCalc was created to address this issue. BioCalc is the Calculus&Mathematica version of Calculus 1 tailored to meet the needs of life science students through the study of many life science models. Sudents in BioCalc experience first hand the vivid connection between calculus and the life sciences.They no longer ask."what's this stuff good for?"
Professor Philippe Tondeur, chair of the Department of Mathematics at UIUC has said.:BioCalc has proved to be very successful."
I currently work for Chevron Overseas Petroleum as a Computer and Communicati ons Network Analyst. While higher level mathematics does not normally come into play in my day to day job, the analytical thinking skills I've learned, since taking VectorCalculus&Mathematica, sure do. I am known among my peers as the guy you want to ask if you have a math-related problem. Taking the VectorCalculus&Mathematica classes [via NetMath Internet] has also gotten the attention of my management and I feel that it has helped my credibili ty with them immensely. Having a radio and RF background I have often wondered where many of the equations come from. Now, thanks to graphical approach of VectorCalculus&Mathematica, I can look at equations, such as Maxwell's equations, and understand what they are saying about the flow of the electric and magnetic fields. That is very gratifying to me. Calculus&Mathematica makes Mathematics come alive to me. It is no longer a dry, tedious subject but one that I can actively explore and play with. It's fun.
Techs support both the lab machines and the software used in this program.
In the event of a problem, send an e-mail to tech@cm.math.uiuc.edu.