Mathematica(R) in Action (eBook)

With the third edition of his popular Mathematica in Action, award-winning author Stan Wagon guides readers through the important changes that have been made to Mathematica 6.0. To utilize the more sophisticated graphics capabilities of 6.0, Wagon has significantly expanded the chapters on surfaces and the parametric plotting of surfaces. The chapter on differential equations now includes material from VisualDSolve , built into Mathematica 6.0. Like previous editions, this is not only an introduction to Mathematica 6.0, but also a tour of modern mathematics by one of the field’s most gifted expositors. Wagon explores some of the most important areas of modern mathematics with new chapters on optimization, including algebraic and numerical optimization, and linear and integer programming. Connections are also made to computer science with new material on graphs and networks. Wagon is the author of nine books on mathematics, including A Course in Computational Number Theory , named one of the ten best math books of 2000 by the American Library Association. He has written extensively on the educational applications of Mathematica, inlcuding the books VisualDSolve: Visualizing Differential Equations with Mathematica, and Animating Calculus: Mathematica Notebooks for the Laboratory. From Reviews of the Second Edition: 'The bottom line is that is an outstanding book containing many examples of real uses of Mathematica for the novice, intermediate, and expert user.' —Mark McClure, Mathematica in Education and Research Journal 'In a dazzling range of examples Stan Wagon shows how such features as animation, 3-dimensional graphics and high-precision integer arithmetic can contribute to our understanding and enjoyment of mathematics.' —Richard Walker, The Mathematical Gazette

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This book is an example-based introduction to techniques, from elementary to advanced, of using Mathematica, a revolutionary tool for mathematical computation and exploration. By integrating the basic functions of mathematics with a powerful and easy-to-use programming language, Mathematica allows us to carry out projects that would be extremely laborious in traditional programming environments. And the new developments that began with version 6 - allowing the user to dyna- cally manipulate output using sliders or other controls - add amazing power to the interface. Animations have always been part of Mathematica, but the new design allows the manipulation of any number of variables, an important enhancement. Mathematica in Action illustrates this power by using demonstrations and ani- tions, three-dimensional graphics, high-precision number theory computations, and sophisticated geometric and symbolic programming to attack a diverse collection of problems.. It is my hope that this book will serve a mathematical purpose as well, and I have interspersed several unusual or complicated examples among others that will be more familiar. Thus the reader may have to deal simultaneously with new mat- matics and new Mathematica techniques. Rarely is more than undergraduate mathematics required, however. An underlying theme of the book is that a computational way of looking at a mathematical problem or result yields many benefits. For example: Well-chosen computations can shed light on familiar relations and reveal new patterns. One is forced to think very precisely; gaps in understanding must be eliminated if a program is to work.