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Big Picture: Derivatives

By Gilbert Strang - MIT
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Lecture Description

Calculus finds the relationship between the distance traveled and the speed — easy for constant speed, not so easy for changing speed. Professor Strang is finding the rate of change, the slope of a curve, and the derivative of a function.

Course Description

Highlights of Calculus is a series of short videos that introduces the basic ideas of calculus — how it works and why it is important. The intended audience is high school students, college students, or anyone who might need help understanding the subject.

Related Resources

Lecture summary with practice problems (pdf with audio)   |  Lecture summary with practice problems (mp3)   |  Practice problems (pdf)

Course Index

  1. Professor Strang Introduces the Series
  2. Big Picture of Calculus
  3. Big Picture: Derivatives
  4. Max and Min and Second Derivatives
  5. The Exponential Function
  6. Big Picture: Integrals