Richard Wong

Assistant Teaching Professor in Mathematics at Rice University.

This semester, I will be teaching two sections of Math 102.

I will also be coordinating Math 102; and I am helping organize the undergraduate math colloquium at Rice.

Math 102: Calculus II

You can find the course syllabus here.

What tools do we have to calculate an integral like $\int_0^1 xe^{-x^2} \ dx$ or $\int_0^1 e^{-x^2} \ dx$?

When your calculator tells you that the value of $\int_0^1 e^{-x^2} \ dx \approx 0.746824$, how do you know it’s correct? How accurate is your calculator? Is it possible for an infinite region to have finite area? Can we calculate the area of a fractal?

You’ve previously seen in Math 101 that calculus is an important and powerful tool that allows us to describe the physical world around us. In Math 102, we will push the notion of integration to its utmost limits. In this class, we will build our toolbox for integration; we will study the behavior of the infinite, and we will learn how to quantify how accurate our approximations are.

In this course, you will develop the critical thinking and questioning skills needed to answer these complex questions. Moreover, you will become fluent in precisely communicating your ideas through the mathematical language of calculus.