Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore (GA)

Mangalore, Aug 8: Calculus is more than 300 years old.  In the modern carriculae, it is both indispensable and ubiquitous. Countless text books, supplemented with heavy doses of exercises re available in the market.  However ask any student of the class XI/Junior or XII/Senior high school level, what do you learn in calculus?  The answers are usually vague and incorrect.

However, this new pedagogical gem called "A Little Bit of Calculus" by renowned scholar and philosopher, mathematician Stephen Vadakkan explains the subject concept by concept in a clear and precise manner using easy to understand illustrations and examples.  The focus is on the concepts and practical understanding of calculations.  The exercises though intentionally few are intended to illustrate the beauty of the theory and demonstrate the power of calculus as a versatile tool.  The flow and development is elegantly structured and itemized in the Table of Contents.  Most of the explanations and examples are refreshingly original (not found in any book) and insightful.

It is written in simple English specially oriented to students from non-English medium high schools and for those who don not have a strong mathematical background.  This special international edition is tuned in more to the syllabus so that students can feel confident in their understanding of the subject and thereby hope to score more in mathematics and physics.  The book is meant for:

• Students of state syllabus plus I and II
• CBSE and ICSE class XI and XII
• British O-levels and American junior high
• Refresher for B Sc first year and B Tech
• B A Economics and MBA
• Polytechnic students

Interested can freely download the whole book (210 pages=4 MB) in less than 2 minutes using www.staloysius.ac.in/campus/alumni/calculus.pdf
Hard copies are available at
Manipal Institute of Computer Education (MICE)
www.micegroup.net
Udupi (0820) - 2524120, 4290555

About the author:

Prof Stephen Vadakkan (born August 3, 1952, Kuwait) did his Pre-university at St Aloysius in 1969-70. After completing his Bachelor of Science at Kuwait University in 1977 with distinction of rank holder, he went on to do two masters degree in Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Arizona in Tucson, U.S.A. Later for his Ph.D. he studied Cryptography and Communications Security under the world renowned Prof. F.C. Piper of the University of London.

He returned to Kuwait and worked as a Research Associate at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and for Kuwait Air Force/Air Defense, and also as a consultant for various commercial ventures.

During the Gulf War (1990-91) he returned to India. For a brief period he was an Honorary Visiting Faculty member and Reader (Associate Professor) of Computer Engineering at the Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal.

He is a writer and philosopher. He has discovered and proved the exact formula for the perimeter of the ellipse. He has also found a new exact way for finding the value. He has found a novel, simple and accurate way for constructing and n-secting a 60° angle. He is also an instrument pilot. He is the nephew of Fr Joseph Vadakkan, the famous social reformer of Thrissur in Kerala.