Preface Preface
To the Student.
This is a textbook that I have developed starting around 2010 for students in the Applied Mathematics class at Fitchburg State University. I got my Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and there was some core material that I felt was needed for such a course and at the time did not find an appropriate text for the course.
In 2024, I adapted the book from a solely LaTeX book to one written in PreTeXt and since then I have been refining it.
First, if you are reading this, kudos to you. I have to admit that I don’t always read the preface to a book. If you are reading this, then I think you may already have a deeper belief in understanding than someone who is just interested in the answer. I (and I believe most authors) decide to write a book and spend a lot of time thinking about it and editing to give the material in the book a context. I want to spend a bit of time discussing this in this preface.
Why have a textbook in the age of Artificial Intelligence? I think this is a great question. I feel that a textbook is very grounding and gives structure to a class.
