Professor of Mathematics Dick Bedient served as moderator for the debate "Derivative vs. Integral: The final showdown” during the Joint Meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America held Jan. 6-9, in New Orleans.
The spoof, pitting the two main notions of calculus against one another, featured Colin Adams arguing on the side of the derivative and Thomas Garrity making the case for the integral. Adams and Garrity are professors of mathematics at Williams College. Bedient authoritatively maintained order and decorum throughout the session and, in the end, ruled that the audience voice vote favored the integral as the winner.
