Book excerpt: Biology majors and pre-health students at many colleges and universities are required to take a semester of calculus but rarely do such students see authentic applications of its techniques and concepts. Applications of Calculus to Biology and Medicine: Case Studies from Lake Victoria is designed to address this issue: it prepares students to engage with the research literature in the mathematical modeling of biological systems, assuming they have had only one semester of calculus. The text includes projects, problems and exercises: the projects ask the students to engage with the research literature, problems ask the students to extend their understanding of the materials and exercises ask the students to check their understanding as they read the text. Students who successfully work their way through the text will be able to engage in a meaningful way with the research literature to the point that they would be able to make genuine contributions to the literature.