The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Calculus is a powerful mathematical tool. But for hundreds of years after its invention in the 17th century, it stood on a shaky ...

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that tests are mandated in most Advanced Placement courses. When students set to take Precalculus Honors return to school this fall in the ...

In the late 19th century, Karl Weierstrass invented a fractal-like function that was decried as nothing less than a “deplorable evil.” In time, it would transform the foundations of mathematics.

The College Board offers four Advanced Placement classes in math: AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics and – the newest – AP Precalculus. Successful completion of an AP math class is ...