Calculus is concerned with comparing quantities which vary in a non-linear way. It is used extensively in science and engineering since many of the things we are studying (like velocity, acceleration, current in a circuit) do not behave in a simple, linear fashion. If quantities are continually changing, we need calculus to study what is going on.

Founders of Calculus

Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz

Calculus was developed independently by the Englishman, Sir Isaac Newton, and by the German, Gottfried Leibniz. They were both working on problems of motion towards the end of the 17th century. There was a bitter dispute between the men over who developed calculus first. Because of this independent development, we have an unfortunate mix of notation and vocabulary that is used in calculus.

There are two main branches of calculus.

The first is differentiation (or derivatives), which helps us to find a rate of change of one quantity compared to another.

The second is integration, which is the reverse of differentiation. We may be given a rate of change and we need to work backwards to find the original relationship (or equation) between the two quantities