MATH 151, SECTION 30

AUTUMN 2015

Jonathan Rubin
Office: Eckhart 7, Cubicle 7 (Basement)
Email: jrubin@math.uchicago.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 12:00 PM 1:00 PM,
Wednesday 1:30 PM 4:00 PM,
and by appointment.
Course Assistant: Vishal Talasani
Email: vtalasani@uchicago.edu
Office Hours: Time and Location TBD
Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30 AM 11:50 AM, SS-105
Problem Session: Tuesday 8:00 PM 9:00 PM, Eckhart 203
Text: Calculus: One Variable, 10th Edition, Sallas/Hille/Etgen
Supplemental Texts: Calculus, 4th Edition, Spivak
Principles of Mathematical Analysis, 3rd Edition, Rudin
Important Dates: First Midterm (Tentative): Thursday, 22 October 2015
Second Midterm (Tentative): Thursday, 12 November 2015
Final Examination: Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Grading:

Comprehensive Final: 40%

Midterms (2): 20% each
Homework and Quizzes: 15%
Class Participation: 5%

Comprehensive Final: The final examination will take place 10:30 AM 12:30
PM, Tuesday, 8 December 2015. Be sure that you can make this examination
date. The department has very strict rules.
It is the policy of the Department of Mathematics that the following rules apply
to final exams in all undergraduate mathematics courses:
(1) The final exam must occur at the time and place designated on the
College Final Exam Schdule. In particular, no final examinations may
be given during the tenth week of the quarter, except in the case of
graduating seniors.
(2) Instructors are not permitted to excuse students from the scheduled
time of the final exam except in the cases of an Incomplete.
1

MATH 151, SECTION 30 AUTUMN 2015

Midterms: There will be two closed book, in-class midterms, falling roughly the
fourth and seventh weeks of the quarter. Midterms will focus on recent course
material, but familiarity with previous topics will be expected.
Homework: Homework will be assigned every week, and will be due at the beginning of Thursdays lecture. Problems may be assigned all at once, or on separate
days. Late submissions will not be accepted. As a courtesy to the grader, write-ups
should be legible, neat, stapled, reasonably well-organized, and written in complete
sentences. Please show your work on all problems, but do not submit scratch work,
i.e., please write up clean solutions for submission.
On Collaboration and Consultation: The purpose of homework is to help you
learn the material. It is like weight training: the only way to get stronger is to do
the lifting yourself. You are free to work on homework assignments together, and if
you are stuck, you may look up solutions, but be sure that you understand how to
do the problems. To that end, you must write up your solutions independently, and
you must indicate all collaborators and outside sources consulted. The University
and I take Academic Integrity very seriously.
Quizzes: There will be a short quiz most weeks, at the beginning of Thursdays
lecture. Quizzes will begin promptly, will last roughly 10-15 minutes, will be announced beforehand, and will generally be closed book.
Class Participation: It is important to learn how to communicate ideas effectively in person. Participating in the classroom dialogue is an excellent place to
start. You are all encouraged to speak up in class, either to ask a question, or to
contribute to the discussion. Nobody will be penalized for remaining quiet, but
when I assign final grades, I will take a students classroom presence (constructive
or otherwise) into account, especially for borderline cases.
Course Overview: MATH 151 is the first of three courses meant to introduce the
standard features of single-variable calculus. There will be an emphasis on calculations and applications, but in addition, we shall also consider the ideas that power
the entire theory. In particular, we shall explore the basic theoretical results concerning limits, continuity, and differentiability, and the University has mandated
that all undergraduates shall learn to do - proofs.
From my perspective, mathematics is very much about ideas. I happen to think
that Calculus is a very beautiful theory, and I would like to share my viewpoint
with you this quarter.