About our authors William Briggs has been on the mathematics faculty at the University of Colorado at Denver for 23 years. He received his BA in mathematics from the University of Colorado and his MS and PhD in applied mathematics from Harvard University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses throughout the mathematics curriculum, with a special interest in mathematical modeling and differential equations as it applies to problems in the biosciences. He has written a quantitative reasoning textbook, Using and Understanding Mathematics; an undergraduate problem solving book, Ants, Bikes, and Clocks; and two tutorial monographs, The Multigrid Tutorial and The DFT: An Owner's Manual for the Discrete Fourier Transform. He is the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Vice President for Education, a University of Colorado President's Teaching Scholar, a recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Ireland.Lyle Cochran is a professor of mathematics at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. He holds BS degrees in mathematics and mathematics education from Oregon State University and a MS and PhD in mathematics from Washington State University. He has taught a wide variety of undergraduate mathematics courses at Washington State University, Fresno Pacific University, and since 1995 at Whitworth University. His expertise is in mathematical analysis, and he has a special interest in the integration of technology and mathematics education. He has written technology materials for leading calculus and linear algebra textbooks including the Instructor's Mathematica Manual for Linear Algebra and Its Applications by David C. Lay and the Mathematica Technology Resource Manual for Thomas' Calculus. He is a member of the MAA and a former chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Whitworth University.Bernard Gillett is a Senior Instructor at the University of Colorado at Boulder; his primary focus is undergraduate education. He has taught a wide variety of mathematics courses over a 20-year career, receiving 5 teaching awards in that time. Bernard authored a software package for algebra, trigonometry, and precalculus; the Student's Guide and Solutions Manual and the Instructor's Guide and Solutions Manual for Using and Understanding Mathematics by Briggs and Bennett; and the Instructor's Resource Guide and Test Bank for Calculus and Calculus: Early Transcendentals by Briggs, Cochran and Gillett. Bernard is also an avid rock climber and has published 4 climbing guides for the mountains in and surrounding Rocky Mountain National Park.Eric Schulz has been teaching mathematics at Walla Walla Community College since 1989 and began his work with Mathematica in 1992. He has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Seattle Pacific University and a graduate degree in mathematics from the University of Washington. Eric loves working with students and is passionate about their success. His interest in innovative and effective uses of technology in teaching mathematics has remained strong throughout his career. He is the developer of the Basic Math Assistant, Classroom Assistant, and Writing Assistant palettes that ship in Mathematica worldwide. He is an author on multiple textbooks: Calculus and Calculus: Early Transcendentals with Briggs, Cochran and Gillett, and Precalculus with Sachs and Briggs, where he writes, codes and creates dynamic eTexts combining narrative, videos and Interactive Figures using Mathematica and CDF technology.
