On 14/12/2014 01:21, Bernie Cosell wrote:
I think you're onto something -- calculus came up because of something we were discussing... But the fact is that to first order *ALL* of mathematics is beautiful if presented properly, and I realize that I if I succeeded in teaching some calculus, my friend would have learned exactly nothing useful. But your suggestion got me thinking: instead of calculus I'll propose probability and statistics. Both can be a lot of fun and useful in everyday life [especially if you *understand* them]... and no need to teach derivations but knowing some about the distributions [without the ugly equations behind them] or what a "t-test" is and what it tells you can be something good to know. I'll try that tack.
Another option: Find a fairly broad-ranging recreational mathematics book, give it to your friend, and ask what s/he finds most interesting in it. If the answer is "nothing", you can probably give up. Otherwise, it may suggest a direction to go in. -- g