Customer Reviews

The Mathematica Book, Fifth Edition

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's a shame that the spotlight review for this book is a tirade by a frustrated student who envies Stephen Wolfram's ability to make money. So much for Amazon's ability to separate the wheat from the chaff!

Here's my opinion: I've been a Mathematica user since 1989 and have found the various versions of the book to be essential references. Mathematica has become an indispensable tool in my work as a teacher, researcher, and consultant, and I've even written a book about Mathematica applications in my field. If I were limited to only one piece of software, this would be it (ok, an operating system would be good, too). Maybe it's because I learned to progam by writing mainframe FORTRAN programs on keypunch cards but, whatever the reason, I disagree with just about all of the comments in the negative review. I am continually amazed at the things I can do using Mathematica and, in general, how quickly and easily I can do them.

Sure, a person needs some mathematical saavy to get the most out of Mathematica. Maybe that was the negative reviewer's problem. The reason that the particular inequality of interest to him or her isn't specifically addressed may be that almost anyone with rudimentary knowledge of Mathematica, some insight into problem solving, and a curious spirit can easily think of at least three or four ways to accomplish the task at hand. I looked at his or her inequality, thought about it for a minute or two while I had a sip of coffee, and then made a contour plot in a few seconds. No need at all for Calculus Whiz, although people just learning calculus may indeed find it helpful.

It is, though, important to distinguish between the quality of the book and the need to buy a copy. Mathematica does come with both digital and paper copies of the book, so many people may not need to buy an extra copy. If you don't need one, don't buy one. It might be nice to have one, though, if your old copy has worn out from heavy use or if your only access to Mathematica is via a network and site license. People enrolled in the Premier subscription plan received an upgrade to version 5 but no paper copy of the book, so they might want one as well.

The bottom line is this: The book is outstanding and an essential reference for anyone using Mathematica. That's why I give it 5 stars. If you need or want a paper copy, then buy one. If not, don't.

I bought the 2nd edition of this book back in the early 90s when a student edition of the software was available to me inexpensively for the Mac. The book was very helpful in learning how to use the Mathematica program. There are examples galore and many graphical illustrations. As other reviewers have said, the whole book comes online with the software and you can easily search it, but I liked having an offline copy too. The later versions are just extensions of earlier ones.

It is easy to learn how to do simple examples from the book. Suppose you want to plot the expression |x-y| + |x| + |y|. On page ix, before the book really begins, there is an example of the syntax to make a plot: Plot3D[ Sin[x y], {x,0,Pi}, {y,0,Pi} ]. In chapter 1 (p. 49) you learn that the absolute value is given by the Abs[x] function.

So, you can type Plot3D[ Abs[x-y] + Abs[x] + Abs[y], {x,-2,2}, {y,-2,2}] to get a nice 3D plot of this expression, with x and y in the range -2 to 2. If you want to see a plot where the value of the expression is <= 2, you can restrict the Z range of the plot, as illustrated in chapter 1 (p. 157), like this:
Plot3D[ Abs[x-y] + Abs[x] + Abs[y], {x,-2,2}, {y,-2,2}, PlotRange->{0,2} ].

As other reviewers have mentioned, the most important thing to know about this book is that it is included in electronic form with Mathematica. Some people think that's a bad thing, and if you do, too, then this book certianly isn't for you.

If you're like me, you sometimes prefer to have a printed copy of documentation at your disposal. The index is useful, and the book is beautifully bound and typeset. If you like hardcopy references, you won't be disappointed in this title.

The book starts out as a tutorial; it's possible to use the first 100 or so pages as an end-to-end introduction to most of Mathematica's features. The tutorial is easy to follow, though some of the steps might not be completely clear or as detailed as they should be. For example, some formula entry features aren't described until after they're used for the first time. Some functions are invoked before their description is shown, too.

Perhaps worst of all, some features of the product are left unexplored while other features (which seem quite orthogonal to the discussion at hand) are mentioned more than in passing.

A great example of the scope and flow problems is at the start of the chapter about Mathematica on different computers. I'd expect this section t odiscuss the difference beteen the Kernel text interface and the noteboook interface, but it doesn't; it sticks to the notebook interface, and doesn't explain how I might use the kernel interface directly. It mentions the Mathematica programming API, and even includes a code fragment demonstrating it -- but then offers no other description of the API. The text doesn't even mention where I can go to read more details, if I'm interested, later on!

As a reference, the book is very useful. For a given function or comand, the available options and features are described, though they're not demonstrated. Because of the great index and logical layout, it's not hard to find related features or similar functions.

However, the book disappoints me by failing to spend much time describing how features can best be used together. For example, I can use Plot[] against a certain expression and range to draw a graph. I've found I can use Table[] with the same expression and range to produce a table of values and store it in a variable. Why can't I, then, use Plot[] against the variable (with the values I produced) and the range in order to plot the same series?

Because the book doesn't do much to help the reader combine the different features and comamnds into something useful, it falls short as a tutorial and could be better as a reference. This is disappointing enough that I'm on the verge of scoring it at three stars.

I have been a Mathematica user for many years, back when you could get it for just the MAC, and a big fan of Steven Wolfram.
If you are like me, you're just a bit curious to see what the 4,832th digit for Pi is, using N[Pi,4832]. Or what a Contour graph looks like, right! Well, this book will definately show you how to do it! This latest hardcover book, which includes reference for version 4.1 of Mathematica, is a add-on of the same(only smaller) book on version 3.0 of Mathematica. There are much more examples specific to version 4.x and also the book is a few hundred pages more than the v3 book. If you have the v3.0 book and dont use the v4.x software, there really is no need to get this book, unless you're really curious about what v4.x offers and like to lug around a 6 pound book! The graphics are very vivid, sharp and basically the same ones in v3.0. Due to some of the new graphing features in v4.x, there are samples of these as well. Overall, a great software reference to one of the best software packages ever made!

This is the most complete reference book for the Mathematica system. However, be aware of the fact that it doesn't treat any topic in great detail (for instance, it doesn't provide a single example of a complete Mathematica program). There are many texts available for specific purposes, but this is the one that gives you the broad picture (version 3.0 comes with the Mathematica Book on line, but studying something from the screen can be a bit annoying).

There's a lot of power in Mathematica, as a symbolic algebra system, as super-powered calculator, for basic graphics, and even for limited kinds of text preparation. This puts essentially all of that power in your hands.

You had better have strong hands. This is as thick as most two books on my shelf. That's what it takes, though, to describe something as featureful as Mathematica. Just about any function you ever heard of, it has. It also has the derivative and integral, in symbolic form, and maybe even a moment generating function, if that applies. It's all there and it's indexed fairly well.

That won't help the beginner struggling with the basic syntax or programming model. The pattern matching is not at all intuitive, if you've been programming in procedural or OO languages - a Prolog background would serve you better. Combinations of code, formatted text, and graphics are also possible, but no always easy to work out from this text. This is not a primer, it's an encyclopedia.

That's what I want, though: the language, the library, and an organization that doesn't hide them. It's not a user-friendly introduction, but I'm not a very friendly user.

If you need to use Mathematica for anything get this book for sure. It is simply excellent. It has everything that you would possibly need in order to operate in Mathematica. However, if you have an original version of Mathematica you would have this book with it, but regardless it is perfect and it is a must for everyone dealing with Mathematica. The best thing about the book is that not just that it has all the functions that Mathematica can operate, but also it has examples for every function, which makes is just perfect. In the middle of the book that are some graphical representations that you can do in Mathematica. Certainly buy it if you wish to be succesful in Mathematica.

Mathematica can be a very daunting program for first time users. I remember when I first started using it back in 1997, and I was amazed with its power and conciseness. This is the best book on the subject and probably the only one you'll need by the author of the program himself. The book starts out with very simple concepts and builds on them to include just about anything you'd ever want to do with Mathematica, including the solution of indefinite integrals. The explanations are to the point, the examples are of sufficient complexity to demonstrate the features but not too complex, and the use of figures in the book is excellent. If you don't need the program's fancy graphics or sound capabilities, you won't have to suffer through inexplicable examples that use them. The author isolates the explanation of that portion of the program in its own chapters.

There is a fifth edition of this book, but it is out of print, and sellers are asking ridiculously high prices for copies. Since an electronic version of this book comes with every copy of Mathematica you should do fine with this earlier in-print version.

Iin terms of speed and functionality, the program Mathematica is the most amazing program I have ever used. It is an indispensable tool for research in many areas of the sciences and mathematics. From the evaluation of mathematical formulas to the graphing of three-dimensional data over time, it can handle almost anything that you need to process or analyze. Surprisingly user-friendly for such a capable program, it takes very little time for even a novice to put it to productive use. However, with all that capability there is a problem with the sheer number and detail of the options, which is why the documentation is so critical. While there is extensive online documentation with Mathematica that is easy to use, there is still a need for the documentation in physical form.
This book, in its fourth edition, is complete, and easy to use, with the exception of requiring a bit of physical effort to lift. That's correct - the book contains 1,470 pages. In my extensive use of Mathematica, I use the book and online help in about equal amounts. Generally, I use the online help when I don't remember a precise syntax and I'll use the book when I'm concerned more with the details of the behavior or the nuances of an operation or a capability.
I consider this reference book essential to the efficient use of Mathematica and well its procurement, if the software package you have does not contain a copy. This fourth edition contains excellent tutorials, a myriad of examples, and a wonderful gallery of graphic images.

Published in Mathematics and Computer Education, reprinted with permission.

The only and the best reference for Mathematica 3.0. Written by the chief architect himself and founder of Wolfram Research. I know of no text anywhere in physics or general science for that matter, covering any subject that compares to the depth and detail that is contained in this book written by Dr. Wolfram. This book is an absolute must for anyone wishing to know all the details about the latest release of Mathematica. It is about 50% longer than the second edition, and includes many new features on how to take full advantage of Version 3.0. I wholly recommend this text!