Whose limit is it anyway?

Primus: Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies, Sep 2001 by Borzellino, Joseph E

ADDRESS: Department of Mathematics, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo CA 93407 USA. jborzell@calploy.edu.

ABSTRACT: In a tongue-in-cheek manner, we investigate the notion of limit. We illustrate some of its shortcomings and show that addressing these shortcomings can often lead to unexpected consequences.

KEYWORDS: Advanced calculus, calculus, limit, real analysis, topology, teaching.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Dr. Joseph E. Borzellino is an assistant professor of mathematics at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He received his BS in Mathematics from University of California, Irvine in 1987, and his PhD in Mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1992. His research specialty is the Riemannian geometry and differential topology of orbifolds. tom 1992-1995, he spent time as a visiting assistant professor at University of California, Davis. From 1996-2001, he was an assistant professor at Penn State Altoona, a small campus college of Pennsylvania State University.