The fact that the derivative of this accumulator function is equal to the original function, this is the fundamental theorem of calculus, and I violently agree with you that this part is shockingly, unexpectedly beautiful
the discrete version is much clearer to me. Suppose you have a function f(n) defined at integer positions n. Its "derivative" is just the difference of consecutive values
f'(n) = f(n+1) - f(n)
Then the fundamental theorem is just a telescopic sum: f(b) - f(a) = \sum_a^b f'(n)To see why \int_a^b f(x) dx = F(b) - F(a) with F'(x) = f(x),
we replace f with f' (and hence F with f) and get
\int_a^b f'(x) dx = f(b) - f(a).
Re-arranging terms, we get
f(b) = f(a) + \int_a^b f'(x) dx.
The last line just says: The value of function f at point b is is the value at point a plus the sum of all the infinitely many changes the function goes through on its path from a to b.
So to get the area under the curve between a and b, you calculate the area under the curve from 0 to b (antiderivative at b) and subtract the area under the curve from 0 to a (antiderivative at a).
At least that's my sleep deprived take.
There are many types of examples, and many different reasons why I don't find a particular connection or connection type surprising. So I can concentrate on memorising them, and building intuition.
For the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus:
- int f' = f: the sum of the change is the thing itself. E.g. pour water in the bathtub, if you sum the rate you pour, that's the total water in the bathtub
- int f' = f(t2) - f(t1) : same but water differences between 2 times.
- (int f)' = f: the rate of the sum is the function itself. If you go and integrate your function f, the integrate function's change rate at x is f(x)
- and so on.
Also someone mentioned discrete functions, partial sums and difference series are indeed easier. Say, F is your gross money and f is your monthly salary, or F is gross amount of rain and f is daily rain. Summing a series or taking differences between 2 consecutive data points are each other's inverses.> the area under an entire curve being related to the derivative at only two points
This is a very wrong sentence. The area under f on [a,b] is not related to the derivative of f at a and b. The area under f on [0,x] is a real function F(x) by definition, and there is nothing surprising that the area of f on [a,b] is F(b)-F(a). Simple interval arithmetic.
Now F, the sum, is related to f: F' = f.
tl;dr : in the "fundamental theorem of calculus" there are 2 main observations:
- summing and change rate are inverses:
(int f)' = int (f') = f
F' = f <==> int f = F
- interval arithmetic