The Hidden History of Calculus: How a Monk Almost Erased its Brilliance

 Seems nostalgic for some, outright joyful for others, but for a few – it is a time of overwhelming stress and foreboding. Not for everyone, mind you, but for some, the fear is real – but not for the reason you might think. The fear – it comes from having to engage in… Dare I say it? … Calculus. That’s right, I said it, Calculus. So some of you will be dealing with the logic of ill-logical-ness (did I just make up a word there?) That’s right – you're going to be grappling with Binomial Theorem, and Cavalieri’s principle – in 3 dimensions! So get your polynomials lined up, because no simple imaginary number will suffice – unless it is the solution. But did you know that a simple monk almost destroyed calculus before it had a chance to sprain your brains?