The major textbook is Single Variable Calculus: Concepts and Contexts, 3rd edition, by James Stewart. Brooks/Cole 2005, ISBN 0-534-41022-7.
The full version of the Stewart's Calculus includes the Math 21a material and is a good buy if you're thinking about taking it. It has ISBN 0-534-40986-5.
Don't buy the textbook that the bookstore stocks for 21a! This is just the multivariable material and doesn't include the single variable part we need.
(The links are to the Wikipedia Booksources pages, which give not only information about the book in various catalogs but links to places to buy the book.)
I definitely understand students' interest in saving money. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend using the 2nd edition of the book for the course. The examples and explanations have been changed--we hope for the better--and since there are required reading assignments we would like to make sure you're reading the same book we are. Also, 25% of the problems in the 3rd edition are not in the second edition, and worse there are probably reorderings of problems. Anyone using the 2nd edition would be responsible for synchronizing the editions for every homework assignment. That might prove to be a huge headache.
The second edition of the book is currently on reserve in the Textbook Section of Cabot Library. The third edition (the one we use) was ordered and should be arriving soon. You can check the Reserve List section of the course web site to see for yourself.
Sections were assigned on September 23. If you were not able to register for sections, or if you cannot attend your section, please email me (leingang at math dot harvard dot edu) and give me your name, ID#, current schedule of all classes, and your choices of section.
Once sections start meeting (September 26-27), please take your section request to Susan Milano in Science Center 308. Because of size limitations, we unfortunately cannot always give students their first choice of section.
Do the same as above. We try to be accommodating but we have to give priority to people with actual course conflicts, that is, courses meeting at the same time as their currently assigned section.
All currently scheduled assignments are listed on the "Assignments" page.
To answer the questions after reading the textbook, click on "Q&A Tool 2.0" (this is the fancy name for the bit of software that keeps track of your answers). Click on the number of assignment that is due. There are instructions and a link to the questions.
The Reading Assignments are there partly to help your teaching fellow prepare for class. Some teaching fellows, like some undergraduates, like to work in the middle of the night rather than the early morning. To give them a reasonable amount of time to use the reading question information, reading assignments are due at 12:01am on the day of class.
The maximum of the two scores is counted. This means any score you get on the first test can be erased by the re-test if it's higher.
Generally, you should clear your schedule of conflicts in order to take the midterm at the scheduled time. If the conflict is another class, you will have to miss it and find out what you missed from a classmate. If the conflict is a section or lab, you should reschedule to resolve the conflict. Note that all the tests were scheduled in the same time slot partly to make it easy for you to plan your schedule.
Note to students in the Thursday 6-9pm lab section of Life Sciences 1a: we understand that many of that course's lab sections are full. So if you cannot reschedule your lab section, you will take the midterms on the regular days, but at 9:15pm instead of at the regular time.
If the conflict is work, you should try to rearrange your schedule for that week to take the test at the scheduled time.
If you are traveling off campus for a university-sponsored event (for example, an athletic competition), you may take the exam before you leave campus.
If there is absolutely no way to reschedule or miss the other event, it may be possible to reschedule the exam. It's also possible in the case of family or medical emergencies. Please contact the course head (leingang at math) with questions.
Please understand that midterms are unique to each term, and take weeks to prepare. Creating an alternate exam and trying to match it with the first exam in terms of coverage and difficulty is a hard task. It often occurs that out-of-sequence midterms are harder than the original one.
We sympathize if you are not feeling your best on the day of a midterm. However, we do not like to grant makeup exams unless we hear from your Freshman Dean or Senior Tutor. That person will be notified if you are seriously ill or hospitalized, and should contact the course head.
Problem sessions are an excellent resource for going over problems like those that appear on the homework. We have great course assistants who are experts in calculus problems. Problem sessions are also a place to go to get refreshed on some of the course prerequisites. But in the main section we will focus much more on concepts rather than practicing technique.
I know you're probably used to that form of class from your high school math courses, but we don't consider mathematics as a list of math problems. Our goal as teachers is to help you get acquainted with the concepts of the course, and yes, that is tested by problems. However, if we used class time to focus on homework, you would leave the course only knowing how to do the homework. We want you to be able to solve the problems that haven't even been written yet--the way you use mathematics in everyday life.
This means that you're going to spend more time outside of class trying to build the bridge from class to the homework. Our experience in teaching calculus at this level is that this is a very important step in the process. To short this circuit would short-change your learning experience.