Textbook and Calculator Information for Math 131 (Calculus I, Fall 2016)

Textbook  Single Variable Calculus, Early Transcendentals (8th edition, 8E) by James Stewart.  It will be available in soft cover edition at the Campus Bookstore, "bundled" together with a signon code that gives you access to an electronic version of the textbook via WebAssign.
  • The bundled signon code is only for your convenience (to provide access to an electronic copy of the textbook):  it is not required. If you don't want to use the eBook, then you can get your textbook from some other source.
  • There is a Student's Solution Manual for the textbook.  It gives solutions for all of the odd-numbered problems in the text. The Solutions Manual is also not required.  But you can order it online, if you like, at http://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/search/9781305272422   
  • Each week, there will be suggested problems from the textbook corresponding to the lecture material, but these are for practice (and not collected). The homework that you submit will be set up separately from the textbook, and answers will be submitted online. Therefore the 7th edition of the textbook should also be useable provided that you remember that there will be a few changes in the page numbering and problem numbers--so, for example, you might not be doing the same practice problems as others in the class.
Accessing your eBook

For those of you who purchase the bundle with WebAssign access, here are instructions to access your eBook through WebAssign:

  1. www.webassign.net
  2. Upper right hand corner of the screen “Click Enter Class Key”
  3. wustl 7169 8901   (please use lower case letters)
  4. Verify your class information “Click , Yes, This is my Class”
  5. Create a WebAssign account – “Click, Continue”
  6. Complete the next steps and fill out only the blanks that have an *. “Click Create my Account”
  7. Prompted for your code that you purchased at the bookstore – Enter the code exactly as it appears on the card.
  8. Finish the steps to complete your set up.

This is a one-time set up. Next time you enter WebAssign to access the eBook, you will enter your username, institution code (wustl) and then your password.  

What we'll cover

Chapter 1 in the textbook is precalculus material and could be a useful review for most students, but Chapter 1 will not be covered in class. The course will cover approximately Chapters 2 - 5.5 (with a few selected sections omitted).  In the spring 2017 semester,  Math 132 (Calculus II) will use the same textbook.

The course moves quickly but does not assume that you have any previous knowledge of calculus.  However, your algebra and precalculus background (including trigonometry) need to be in good working order.  Here is a link that shows the kind of background material you should know to begin a calculus course.  

Sometimes students decide to "retake" Calculus I--very often unnecessarily.  If you did well in a course that covered derivatives, introduced the definite integral and areas under curves, and did the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, then probably you should not be taking Math 131.  For example, the AP Calculus course, AB version, covers all the important material in Calculus I.  My experience has been that students who unnecessarily "retake" Calculus I are often bored, and sometimes (because they think they "know all this already") actually don't do very well: many of them would have done better and been happier in Calculus II.

Calculators   For course exams and quizzes, no calculators of any kind will be allowed. Of course, you can use any kind of technology you want for your homework and study.  Just be careful not to become dependent on technology so that you can't do the basic things by hand.  See the link
Calculators in Math 131, Fall 2016.