Vector and Geometric Calculus

Book excerpt: This textbook for the undergraduate vector calculus course presents a unified treatment of vector and geometric calculus. This is the printing of August 2022. The book is a sequel to the text Linear and Geometric Algebra by the same author. That text is a prerequisite for this one. Its web page is at faculty.luther.edu/ macdonal/laga. Linear algebra and vector calculus have provided the basic vocabulary of mathematics in dimensions greater than one for the past one hundred years. Just as geometric algebra generalizes linear algebra in powerful ways, geometric calculus generalizes vector calculus in powerful ways. Traditional vector calculus topics are covered, as they must be, since readers will encounter them in other texts and out in the world. Differential geometry is used today in many disciplines. A final chapter is devoted to it. Download the book's table of contents, preface, and index at the book's web site: faculty.luther.edu/ macdonal/vagc. From a review of Linear and Geometric Algebra: Alan Macdonald's text is an excellent resource if you are just beginning the study of geometric algebra and would like to learn or review traditional linear algebra in the process. The clarity and evenness of the writing, as well as the originality of presentation that is evident throughout this text, suggest that the author has been successful as a mathematics teacher in the undergraduate classroom. This carefully crafted text is ideal for anyone learning geometric algebra in relative isolation, which I suspect will be the case for many readers. -- Jeffrey Dunham, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Natural Sciences, Middlebury College