ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces calculus, the branch of mathematics developed to predict how changes in one quantity will alter another. Beginning with methods for determining the slopes of straight lines and simple curves, the readers will assemble the basic toolkit of techniques required for differentiation. The mathematical details are needed to understand the way that metabolite concentrations change with time in reactions catalyzed by enzymes, to analyze the growth of bacteria, and to explain how a pH buffer solution works. Fortunately, pioneering mathematicians have worked out rules for differentiating most of functions the readers are likely to encounter. A major benefit of learning how to differentiate is that this tool can be used to predict where turning points occur, a vital step toward working out the maximum or minimum values that a particular function can adopt. Differentiation provides a simple way of doing this in the form of a linear approximation based on the equation of a tangent to the curve.
