The multivariable edition of Active Calculus, to which I alluded in an earlier post, is almost ready to be shared publicly. Steve Schlicker, David Austin, and I have been hard at work for much of the summer, and are pleased to announce that on or around Monday, August 3, we will publish a PDF file for download. I will add a new post here on the blog that includes a direct link to the page, as well as some other info.
For now, a preview of a few key features:
+ like the original Active Calculus, each section features motivating questions, a preview activity, 3-4 in-class activities, and several challenging exercises
+ also like the original, thanks to David, there are fantastic full-color graphics. David recently developed a remarkable package for 3D graphics, which enables him to generate .eps figures like these:
+ the text will of course be both free and open-source. The PDF will be available publicly, while the source code will be available upon request. We will wait approximately a year to do some beta-use, get feedback, and do some further editing before we make arrangements for a print-on-demand option.
I want to especially thank Steve for all of the work that he did to generate an initial draft, which gave us a big collective push and really got this project off the ground.
Interested parties can contact any of the three of us to learn more: Steve (schlicks at gvsu dot edu), David (austind at gvsu dot edu), or me (boelkinm at gvsu dot edu). Again, more to follow in the next 10 days or so.