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Re: another math question



There are no decent modern calculus text books in this country.
That's why I'm writing one. Most of us learned div, curl, grad in physics
courses, I expect. I learned that stuff while on a Mediterranian cruise
(courtesy of the navy) from a nifty little book called - as near as I can
remember, my copy is not in evidence right now - <Vector Analysis> by
H. B. Phillips. I'm sure that it's no longer in print. But the approach
was very physical and straightforward, without a lot of the formal stuff
that infects modern textbooks.
Regards,
Jack


On Tue, 11 Jun 2002, Justin Parke wrote:

I am teaching a calculus III course at our local community college this summer and I have a question about topics to include. I do not belong to a math educators list but I figure you all will be just as helpful :) and will post it here.

I am wondering if, when I introduce vector operators like the gradient, divergence, and curl, I should go beyond just rectangular coordinates and include cylindrical and spherical as well. We do discuss these coordinate systems in terms of equations of surfaces etc but none of the textbooks emply them in vector analysis and I don't understand why. From a physics standpoint (like in electrostatics) performing these operations in spherical coordinates is sometimes preferred over rectangular.

But if none of the calculus tectbooks do this then perhaps I am overlooking a good reason why it ought not be done.

Thoughts?

Justin Parke


--
"But as much as I love and respect you, I will beat you and I will kill
you, because that is what I must do. Tonight it is only you and me, fish.
It is your strength against my intelligence. It is a veritable potpourri
of metaphor, every nuance of which is fraught with meaning."
Greg Nagan from "The Old Man and the Sea" in
<The 5-MINUTE ILIAD and Other Classics>