Math 131: Calculus I

Fall 2026

Department of Mathematics, Grinnell College

This is the first of a two-course sequence which serves as an introduction to the differential and integral calculus of functions of one variable.

While accurate, the description above does not convey the depths you are about to explore. On this, Courant writes:

InstructorAhmad Barhoumi
Emailbarhoumia@grinnell.edu
OfficeNoyce 2611
Class TimeMWF 8 - 9:20 am
ClassroomNoyce 3821
Office Hours F 3:30 - 4:30 pm
or by appointment
“Calculus ... [is] the outcome of a dramatic intellectual struggle which has lasted for twenty-five hundred years or more, which is deeply rooted in many phases of human endeavors and which will continue as long as man strives to understand himself as well as nature.”

“The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

― T.H. White, The Once and Future King