This planning project at the Community College of Philadelphia will develop a Lagrangian calculus for their students, who are predominantly women, minorities and returning adults. Lagrangian calculus develops concepts via polynomial approximations rather than limits. It reduces questions about "any" function to the same question about a power function, which appears in the approximating polynomial. This two semester course will be equivalent to pre-calculus and one semester of calculus. The first semester will consist of linear approximations, quadratic, and power functions. The second semester will consist of the differential study of polynomials, Laurent polynomials, rational and elementary transcendental functions by Lagrange's approach. Experimental sections of the course will also be taught at Essex and Middlesex Community Colleges. The College is providing over a third of the project's cost.
