Steven Strogatz

Infinite Powers

1. IDEA 1

   Calculus explains a changing world

   Strogatz argues that calculus is one of humanity's greatest ideas, a tool for understanding anything that changes. It explains the motion of planets, the spread of diseases and the workings of modern technology.

2. IDEA 2

   Break problems into infinite pieces

   Strogatz describes the infinity principle at the heart of calculus. Difficult shapes and motions can be understood by cutting them into infinitely many tiny pieces and adding them back together.

3. IDEA 3

   Archimedes started early

   Strogatz describes how Archimedes used slices and approximations to find areas and volumes. His methods foreshadowed calculus by two thousand years. His work showed that a hard problem can be solved by breaking it into tiny parts.

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