<p>I'm a mathematics professor who is seeking to find interesting, application-driven ways of teaching freshmen college students differential/integral calculus. I am in no way versed in crystallography or much of earth science beyond the usual education that the average non-expert gets, but I did enjoy and do well in a single-semester college geology course, and rocks and minerals have always fascinated me. I am wondering if the crystallographers and earth scientists here might know off-hand applications of tangent lines, derivatives, optimization, integration, etc., in crystallography. I've been browsing, and it certainly seems that vectors and linear algebra and group theory are central in this field, but it has been difficult to find uses for undergraduate calculus skills in the field. Please help?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-08T23:02:59.947Z
Are you asking specifically about crystallography (the study of crystal shapes, lattices, Bravais, point and space groups, all of that stuff) or geology in general?
Gimelist
<crystallography><crystals><teaching><mathematics><education>
Applications of differential/integral calculus in crystallography (teaching undergraduates)?
Sinister Cutlass
# Applications of differential/integral calculus in crystallography (teaching undergraduates)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-07)

I'm a mathematics professor who is seeking to find interesting, application-driven ways of teaching freshmen college students differential/integral calculus. I am in no way versed in crystallography or much of earth science beyond the usual education that the average non-expert gets, but I did enjoy and do well in a single-semester college geology course, and rocks and minerals have always fascinated me. I am wondering if the crystallographers and earth scientists here might know off-hand applications of tangent lines, derivatives, optimization, integration, etc., in crystallography. I've been browsing, and it certainly seems that vectors and linear algebra and group theory are central in this field, but it has been difficult to find uses for undergraduate calculus skills in the field. Please help?

**Tags:** crystallography, crystals, teaching, mathematics, education

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you asking specifically about crystallography (the study of crystal shapes, lattices, Bravais, point and space groups, all of that stuff) or geology in general?  

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## 0 answers

