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Re: Reply to Jerry Rosen
Posted:
Jun 23, 1997 7:27 AM
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I am appalled at how quickly many professional teachers seem to be dismissing so many good texts and ideas just because they don't seem to fit some vague concept of their "perfect text." Harvard has some gaps (all texts do), but some of what they do is EXCELLENT. I have used Harvard and have supplemented like crazy. Big deal. We have problems if we allow a text to totally drive the way we teach. The Harvard text, based on a previous thread, is indeed a *TEXT*. I was impressed with some of the thoughts in the book and that it was not the encyclopaedic reference book that many others seemed to be. Other texts available today are probably improvements, but when it was initially published, Harvard (and many other reform movements) paved the way for a fresh look at Calculus and based on conference lecture selections, I would say that their purpose has been achieved.
Every text has its faults and shortcomings. If you are going to ditch the Harvard text based solely on this criteria, I suggest you go home and to your office, clear off your shelves and have a good old "traditional" book-burning. I realize that this is extreme. I hold many books in my library that are probably inappropriate as texts and references just for the ideas that I can glean from them. Harvard should be such a book. Not appropriate for all topics, but it does a dandy and intriguing job with some.
--chris
Chris Harrow Mathematics Department The Westminster Schools 1424 W Paces Ferry Road NW Atlanta, GA 30327 atlntamath@aol.com
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