"I teach a lot of engineers. They all had calculus in high school, and they know how to compute a thing or two, but they don't know what it all means," he says. "This helps them understand why it's important."
He offers the book for free to those who want a refresher course, but don’t want to "lug around a ten pound calculus book that is unloved and unread."
Ghrist doesn't describe himself as an artist, but says he "mostly doodles for therapy." Drawing, he says, helps him in his work as a topologist (a mathematician who studies abstract shapes).
"It’s a beautiful branch of mathematics. It was long considered too abstract to be used for anything. My research leads me to draw lots of pictures, to think visually and that has a nice resonance for how I teach," Ghrist says.
Dr. Ghrist will be teaching a free calculus class via coursera.org, starting January 7, 2013. You can get a taste of the class in the video below.
*Dr. Ghrist is the Andrea Mitchell University Professor of Mathematics and Electrical & Systems Engineering. (Yes, THAT Andrea Mitchell.)