Book review: Zombies & Calculus, by Colin Adams
A book which aims to teach university students the basics of calculus by integrating maths lessons with a story about a zombie attack may seem a ridiculous idea, but Zombies & Calculus by Colin Adams, a professor of mathematics at Princeton University, turns out to be quite brilliant.
by Colin Adams
Princeton University Press
A book which aims to teach university students the basics of calculus by integrating maths lessons with a story about a zombie attack may seem a ridiculous idea, but Zombies & Calculus by Colin Adams, a professor of mathematics at Princeton University, turns out to be quite brilliant.
Adams explains the basics of calculus in an easy-to-read manner while also telling a rip-roaring horror story which would put many novelists to shame. Readers will find this book an enjoyable and easily digestible introduction to calculus.
Calculus is a branch of maths developed by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that is used to measure the speed at which something changes. For instance, in Zombies & Calculus, it can tell you how fast you have to run to get away from a pursuing zombie horde, and how to calculate the speed at which a zombie virus will spread through the human population.
Calculus is used in all branches of physics, and differential calculus forms the language of important concepts such as Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.
Adams' bizarre idea is to integrate lessons about calculus, complete with equations and diagrams, into a pulp fiction story about a mob of zombies invading a college campus. The calculus is discussed by the characters in specific situations when problems need to be solved.