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Description of  MVT: A Most Valuable Theorem

This book is about the rise and supposed fall of the mean value theorem. It discusses the evolution of the theorem and the concepts behind it, how the theorem relates to other fundamental results in calculus, and modern re-evaluations of its role in the standard calculus course. The mean value theorem is one of the central results of calculus. It was called the fundamental theorem of the differential calculus because of its power to provide simple and rigorous proofs of basic results encountered in a first-year course in calculus. In mathematical terms, the book is a thorough treatment of this theorem and some related results in the field in historical terms, it is not a history of calculus or mathematics, but a case study in both. Read more