Do they not teach why Newton invented calculus anymore? They did when I was taught physics and it all made sense. I don't recall if I considered it beautiful at that time but I do recall how impressed I was with Newton's feat; moving himself farther along with his studies in physics.
He wanted to calculate and predict the movement of celestial bodies. The mathematical knowledge he had wasn't capable of expressioning the relations, but he saw patterns. Then he worked out the mathematical language to express these patterns.
Not sure what's in the curriculum today, but I was taught calculus (20 years ago) heavy on physics applications. I don't think I would have appreciated it as much without that.
