MATHEMATICS FOR LIBERAL ARTS (MA301), LECTURE NOTES

These lecture notes are designed to provide the students majoring in the liberal arts with an understanding and appreciation of mathematics as a lively, interesting, and surprisingly rich human activity with many fascinating applications. The text, emphasizing strongly intuitive thinking and visualization, is a collection of topics chosen to show the open-minded readers that: The connection between the mathematics presented in the course and down-to-earth, concrete real-life problems is transparent and immediate. Modern mathematical discoveries do not have to be the exclusive province of professional mathematicians. There is an important aesthetic component in mathematics, and just as in art and music, it often surfaces on the simplest ideas. The course does not presume a background beyond standard high school mathematics. And its major goal is to reveal that mathematics can be when looked at in the right way-useful, beautiful, and accessible