This textbook integrates scientific programming with the use of R and uses it both as a tool for applied problems and to aid in learning calculus ideas.  Adding R, which is free and used widely outside academia, introduces students to programming and expands the types of problems students can engage. There are no expectations that a student has any coding experience to use this text.

While this is an applied calculus text including real world data sets, a student that decides to go on in mathematics should develop sufficient algebraic skills so that they can be successful in a more traditional second semester calculus course. Hopefully, the applications provide some motivation to learn techniques and theory and to take additional math courses. The book contains chapters in the appendix for algebra review as algebra skills can always be improved. Exercise sets and projects are included throughout with numerous exercises based on graphs.