Everyone has heard of calculus, but why is it so important? In this talk, Steven Strogatz will try to clarify the fantastic idea at the heart of calculus. With the help of pictures and stories, he'll trace where calculus came from and then show how it — in partnership with medicine, philosophy, science and technology — reshaped the course of civilization and helped make the world modern. By the end, he hopes to convince you that calculus is one of the most imaginative and consequential triumphs of human creativity ever. 

Steven Strogatz is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. He works in the areas of nonlinear dynamics and complex systems, often on topics inspired by the curiosities of everyday life. A renowned teacher and one of the world's most highly cited mathematicians, he has blogged about math for the New York Times and the New Yorker and has been a frequent guest on Radiolab and Science Friday. He is the author of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Sync, The Calculus of Friendship and The Joy of x. His most recent book, Infinite Powers, is a New York Times bestseller.