Courses Programs - Thayer School of Engineering - Dartmouth ...

undergraduate courses
82
COSC 8 Problem Solving with Computer Science
Offered: 10F: 10 11W: 10
Motivated by applications in the arts, sciences, social sciences, and computer systems,
this course develops skills in solving problems computationally. Topics covered include
representation (how to capture computationally the objects and processes of a problem),
abstraction (how to build high-level, multi-purpose toolkits for manipulating
representations), recursion and modularity (how to break problems into subproblems
and combine solutions), reasoning (how to understand what a computation is
doing), and concurrency (how to deal with multiple simultaneous processes). These
concepts are taught within a functional programming language that supports them
well; they are applied in a series of programming labs solving application problems.
Prerequisite: Computer Science 5 or Advanced Placement.
Dist: TLA
MATHEMATICS
MATH 3 Introduction to Calculus
Offered: 10F: 9, 11, 12 11W: 10, 11
This course is the basic introduction to calculus. Students planning to specialize in
mathematics, computer science, chemistry, physics, or engineering should elect this
course in the fall term. Others may elect it in the winter.
A study of polynomials and rational functions leads to the introduction of the
basic ideas of differential and integral calculus. The course also introduces exponential,
logarithmic, and trigonometric functions. The emphasis throughout is on fundamental
ideas and problem solving.
MATH 3 is open to all students who have had intermediate algebra and plane
geometry. No knowledge of trigonometry is required. The lectures are supplemented
by problem sessions.
Dist: QDS
MATH 8 Calculus of Functions of One and Several Variables
Offered: 10F: 10, 11, 12 11W: 11, 12, 2 11S: 11, 2
This course is a sequel to MATH 3 and is appropriate for students who have successfully
completed an AB calculus curriculum in secondary school. Roughly half of the
course is devoted to topics in one-variable calculus: techniques of integrations, areas,
volumes, trigonometric integrals and substitutions, numerical integration, sequences,
and series including Taylor series.
The second half of the course generally studies scalar valued functions of several
variables. It begins with the study of vector geometry, equations of lines and planes,
and space curves (velocity, acceleration, arclength). The rest of the course is devoted
to studying different calculus of functions of several variables. Topics include limits
and continuity, partial derivatives, tangent planes and differentials, the Chain Rule,
directional derivatives and applications, and optimization problems including the
use of Lagrange multipliers.
Prerequisite: MATH 3 or equivalent
Dist: QDS