> In twenty years of engineering practice I have never once had to take a difficult limit, and can probably count on one hand the number of times I've had to take a limit of any kind.
In principle, I agree that calculus doesn't need to be mandatory. However this apparently respectable counterargument is misframing the situation. A bit like me saying that a given soldier never placed top 3 in a race, or indeed had to run anywhere in a combat situation, and therefore efforts at army fitness training were useless.
Everyone knows that nearly no engineers use calculus in their day job. Therefore, the purpose and measure of success isn't whether an engineer uses calculus in their day job. It is a great signal of technical problem solving ability, it is really powerful having a large pool of people who are trained in working with rates, areas and margins.
Plus, don't underestimate the impact of forcing people to acknowledge that there is exactly one right answer and that it can be proven. There are people out there who genuinely believe that everything is up for negotiation to a limit that just can't fly in a math course and something needs to screen them out before they get anywhere near anything involving high pressures. People who don't have engineers for parents need to be inducted into the culture from a couple of angles.
In principle, I agree that calculus doesn't need to be mandatory. However this apparently respectable counterargument is misframing the situation. A bit like me saying that a given soldier never placed top 3 in a race, or indeed had to run anywhere in a combat situation, and therefore efforts at army fitness training were useless.
Everyone knows that nearly no engineers use calculus in their day job. Therefore, the purpose and measure of success isn't whether an engineer uses calculus in their day job. It is a great signal of technical problem solving ability, it is really powerful having a large pool of people who are trained in working with rates, areas and margins.
Plus, don't underestimate the impact of forcing people to acknowledge that there is exactly one right answer and that it can be proven. There are people out there who genuinely believe that everything is up for negotiation to a limit that just can't fly in a math course and something needs to screen them out before they get anywhere near anything involving high pressures. People who don't have engineers for parents need to be inducted into the culture from a couple of angles.