Lecture 1: Introduction and Course DescriptionLecture 1: PrefaceLecture 1: 3.016 Mathematical SoftwareLecture 1: 3.016 RecitationsLecture 1: 3.016 Examination PhilosophyLecture 1: 3.016 HomeworkLecture 1: 3.016 LaboratoryLecture 1: GradesLecture 1: Grade CalculationsLecture 1: Homework CalendarLecture 1: Late PolicyLecture 1: TextbookLecture 1: Lecture NotesLecture 1: Lecture and Laboratory CalendarLecture 1: Beginners to MathematicaExample 1-1: Common Mathematica MistakesExample 1-2: Common Mathematica MistakesExample 1-3: Common Mathematica Mistakes3.016 HomeJJ J I IIFull ScreenCloseQuitcW. Craig CarterLecture 1: Introduction and Course DescriptionSept. 5 2012These notes and all course materials will be available at http://pruffle.mit.edu/3.016-2012. Students should bookmark thissite and use it to download lecture notes, homework, and reading assignments for laboratories and lectures. This site is roughlythe same as last year’s site, but a few items may be updated as the semester proceeds. The site may change throughout thesemester. Homeworks and other materials from previous years may be valuable to students.The web materials for 3.016 are revised each year. Previous years’ notes, homeworks, and laboratories are available athttp://pruffle.mit.edu/3.016-2012 (and links to previous years) and may be useful to you.There are a few things you should do immediately:• If you don’t have your own laptop, then let me know and we can use MIT’s laptop loaner program: http://ist.mit.edu/services/hardware/lcp.• Get a copy of the MIT student’s Mathematica: http://ist.mit.edu/services/software/vsls/mathematica/students.• Read (grayscale pdf) or (color pdf). As part of the first homework, there is an agreement that you understand MIT’spolicy on academic integrity. Please sign this understanding and staple it to you first homework. You will not receiveany credit for assignments turned in prior to the submission of the signed understanding.PrefaceMaterials Science and Engineering is a discipline that combines knowledge of chemistry, mechanics, and physics and thenapplies them to the study of materials and their properties. It is a challenging and diverse enterprise—obtaining expertise ina large set of diverse subjects—but is one that will be very rewarding and fulfilling.Mathematics is the language that binds together disparate topics in physics, engineering, and chemistry. Thus, this subject isfor undergraduate materials scientists and engineers who wish to learn about the mathematics that is essential to their chosen3.016 HomeJJ J I IIFull ScreenCloseQuitcW. Craig Carterfield. I have included a lecture and an address given by Maxwell at the end of this lecture. Maxwe ll articulates the role ofMathematics in physics and expe rimental sciences as well as it c an be done, and as part of the first assignment I would likeyou to write a short essay about one of Maxwell’s viewpoints.While it is possible to become an e xce llent materials scientist and engineer without some working knowledge of a large subsetof mathematical topics, it is much easier to master this discipline with mathematics to guide you. Through mathem atics, youwill discover that some topics have similarities that are not obvious and, in fact, are not taught to you as being similar. Suchsimilarities and analogies will make learning much, much easier—and I believe much m ore e njoyable.MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MS&E) subjects have been designed with the philosophy thatstudents will benefit more from a solid background in, and a working knowledge of, the wide range math problem solvingtechniques that pertain specifically to MS&E, rather than a limited subset of topics (alb e it at more depth and rigor) as taughtin a one-semester subject in a Mathematics department. It is reasonable to ask, “Is this subject a substitute for a a ‘LinearAlgebra’ or ‘Partial Differential Equations’ from the Math department?” The answer is, “no, not entirely.” This subject isnot a replacement for a single math subject that provides the rigorous foundations of Mathematics, and I encourage you totake such math classes in the future if you have time. This subject is designed to be very broad in scope and therefore itsdepth in any one topic is limited. However, you will learn to use mathematics as a tool to solve engineering problems in thiscourse. And, you will learn math by applying it to familiar problems. I believe it will be easier and more interesting to takea Math department course after you finish 3.016.I do believe very strongly that you will enjoy studying math more after taking this introduction and that the mathematicalbackground you will receive this semester will make your Materials Science education richer and more rewarding.I have designed this subject to help you learn as much essential math as possible in a short time. To this end, this subjecthas several unusual aspects that you will need to know.3.016 Mathematical SoftwareSymbolic mathematical c omputer software (CAS) is a tool used by almost every applied scientist. Such software helpsproduce results quickly, visualizes and documents the results, and minimizes the silly errors that cree p into complicatedmathematical manipulations. Although there are many other good choices, I have decided to use MathematicaR as a3.016 HomeJJ J I IIFull ScreenCloseQuitcW. Craig Cartervehicle for learning and doing mathematics. It has a fairly steep learning curve. Once learned however, it rewards the timeinvestment with a powerful tool that, though not a replacement for mathematical understanding, will serve as an aid to helpyou think about, visualize, compute, and solve mathematics problems faster and more accurately. I believe that the steeplearning curve helps you learn other computer languages faster—and you will need to learn several as your career progresses.MathematicaR is available for all MIT students, both on Athena (free) and via student licenses for their own machines.You will need a license for your laptop.You will need MathematicaR for your first homework set and laboratory, and you should try to get it loaded and workingvery soon, preferably by the e nd of the first lecture day. If you have a laptop, I suggest that you install MathematicaR onit as soon as possible. If you don’t have a laptop, I can write you a letter so that you can get one through MIT’s laptop-loanerprogram: