Course Head: John D. Boller, SC 320, 495-5377, boller@math.harvard.edu
Sections: The course meets three hours per week in sections taught by teaching fellows (TFs). Each section has a course assistant (CA) who leads an additional weekly problem session.
Math Question Center:Another resource available for your benefit is the Math Question Center (MQC), which runs every Sunday through Thursday from 8--10 P.M. in Loker Commons. The MQC is staffed by CAs from all the Calculus courses, some upper-level CAs, graduate students, and others.
Grades: Your course grade will be determined as follows:
Midterms:
First midterm Monday, March 7, 7-9 P.M., Science Center C.
Second midterm Monday, April 11, 7-9 P.M., Science Center C.
No calculators will be allowed in the exams.
Text: For most of the course we will closely follow the textbook Linear Algebra with applications by Otto Bretscher, published by Prentice Hall and available at the COOP.) In addition there will be handouts for some of the material on differential equations, specifically sections 8.3, a supplement to 9.3, and 10.1-10.3. These handouts will also be available on the web.
This is a fast-paced course which covers a lot of material. We will cover one section of the text per lecture; your TF will highlight the key concepts introduced in the text, but there will not be enough time to cover all the topics. You will need to study the text to fill in the details.
Reading the text is an integral part of the course. It is preferable to read through each section before it is covered in class and then again after it has been covered. On the tests you will be responsible for all the material discussed in the text and the handouts, unless specifically excluded (some sections of chapters 7 and 9 may have to be omitted).
Homework: Homework problems are an integral part of this course. It is impossible to understand the material and do well on the exams without working through the homework problems in a thoughtful manner. Don't just crank through computations and write down answers --- think about the problems posed, your strategy, the meaning of the computations you perform, and the answers you get. Nothing prevents you from trying a few more problems in a given section if you feel it may do you some good. More generally the only way to learn any topic in mathematics is to work out examples for yourself.
Many homework problems will look different from problems discussed in class and in the text. This is not an accident: we want you to think about the material and to learn to apply it in unfamiliar settings and interpret it in different ways. Only if you understand the material (as opposed to merely knowing it) will you be able to go beyond the information you are given.
Some students seem to subscribe to the ``Ten Minute Rule'': If you can not solve it in ten minutes, you cannot solve it at all. Nothing could be further from the truth: you will learn most from those problems which keep you busy more than ten minutes, whether you ultimately solve them or not.
You are encouraged to discuss the course with other students, your CA and/or your TF. It is much easier to learn mathematics if you have other people who will help you test your understanding and surmount problems. You are encouraged to discuss homework problems with other students, but you should always write your homework solutions out yourself in your own words.
Your homework is due at the start of class on the due date. Your course assistant will return your corrected homework to you the following class. He/she will also put homework solutions on reserve at Cabot Library, and we expect to have solutions available on the website. Once solutions are made public, late homework will not be accepted for credit, though of course, you are still encouraged to do those problems. In calculating the total grade for your homework your three (two for the TuTh sections) lowest individual homework grades will be dropped.
You are strongly encouraged to keep up to date with the homework, otherwise you will find that you do not get all you should out of the classes. It will also become increasingly difficult to catch up again.
Technology: In some of the homework problems you will be asked not to use any technology (calculators or software packages). If no restriction is made, you may use the form of technology of your choice (for example, the TI-85 calculator or one of the packages MATLAB or Maple). Make sure to have access to some form of technology; a few TI-85 calculators are on reserve at Cabot Library.
No calculators will be allowed in the exams.
Web Page: www.courses.harvard.edu/~math21b
Homework Assignments: The following are the provisional homework
assignments for the MWF sections.
| Section | Assignment | Due Date |
| - | - | Monday, February 7 |
| 1.1 | 10,14,20,24,26,28 | Wednesday, February 9 |
| 1.2 | 6,11,20,30,32,38 | Friday, February 11 |
| 1.3 | 4,8,14,34,48,50 | Monday, February 14 |
| 2.1 | 4,8,10,20,28,42 | Wednesday, February 16 |
| 2.2 | 4,8,10,32,47,50 | Friday, February 18 |
| HOLIDAY | Monday, February 21 | |
| 2.3 | 10,20,26,30,40,42 | Wednesday, February 23 |
| 2.4 | 4,14,26,28,40,76 | Friday, February 25 |
| 3.1 | 10,22,34,38,44,48 | Monday, February 28 |
| 3.2 | 6,18,28,38,48,52 | Wednesday, March 1 |
| 3.3 | 22,32,36,40,50,56 | Friday, March 3 |
| - | REVIEW | Monday, March 6 |
| MIDTERM | Tuesday, March 7, Science Center C, 7-9 P.M. | |
| 4.1 | 6,12,14,16,26,32 | Wednesday, March 8 |
| 4.2 | 2,14,16,34,40,42 | Friday, March 10 |
| 4.3 | 2,6,8,18,20,34cdefg | Monday, March 13 |
| 5.1 | 16,24,26,36,48,52 | Wednesday, March 15 |
| 5.2 | 3,4,6,16,36,40 | Friday, March 17 |
| 5.3 | 4,10,12,18,22,32 | Monday, March 20 |
| 6.1 | 2,14,20,28,38,42 | Wednesday, March 22 |
| 6.2 | 8,10,16,20,28,32 | Friday, March 24 |
| SPRING BREAK | Saturday, March 25 to Sunday, April 2 | |
| 6.3 | 14,22,28,38,40,44 | Monday, April 3 |
| 6.4 | 6,12,24,30,32,38 | Wednesday, April 5 |
| 6.5 | 8,12,22,28,40afg,42 | Friday, April 7 |
| - | REVIEW | Monday, April 10 |
| MIDTERM | Tuesday, April 11, Science Center C, 7-9 P.M. | |
| 7.1 | 2,4,6,12,14,24 | Wednesday, April 12 |
| 7.3 | 2,10,12,16,26,36 | Friday, April 14 |
| 8.1 | 2,14,26,32,46,54 | Monday, April 17 |
| 8.2 | 8,10,22,30,31,40 | Wednesday, April 19 |
| 8.3 | 1,2,3,4,5 | Friday, April 21 |
| 9.1 | 54 (from chapter),65,66,67,68,69 (from handout) | Monday, April 24 |
| 9.3 | 4,8,10,12,26,28 | Wednesday, April 26 |
| 9.4 | 16,28,30,38,40,46 | Friday, April 28 |
| 10.1 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Monday, May 1 |
| 10.2 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Wednesday, May 3 |
| 10.3 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Friday, May 5 |
| - | REVIEW | Friday, May 5 |
Web Page: www.courses.harvard.edu/~math21b