The Mathematica Book, Fifth Edition (Hardcover)

by Stephen Wolfram (Author) "You can use Mathematica just like a calculator: you type in questions, and Mathematica prints back the answers..." (more)
Key Phrases: Advanced Topic, Listing of Named Characters, Major Built-in Mathematica Objects (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
...very clearly written and superbly presented -- Pablo Inchausti, The Quarterly Review of Biology --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
'Everything about Mathematica and the way it has been developed is impressive ... it is the most comprehensive maths package available today that covers both numeric and symbolic computation. Mathematica 3.0 is simply the new standard of excellence.' Mike James, Scientific Computing World

'I recommend this text to all Mathematica users.' Mike Denham, Computers and Chemistry

'What Mathematica has done is to usher in a new era of fully commercialized technical software.' Karyll Lake, Physics World

'This is a superb text which is an absolute must for anyone who uses Mathematica 3.0.' Assembly Automation --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1488 pages
• Publisher: Wolfram Media; 5th edition (August 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579550223
• ISBN-13: 978-1579550226
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.4 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #578,111 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential reference for Mathematica users, January 28, 2004

By	William C Haneberg (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

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.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the definitive guide to the Mathematica software, May 18, 2003

By	Duane T. Williams (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mathematica Book, Fourth Edition (Hardcover)

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} ].

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the generally curious - Mathematica!, April 2, 2002

By	D. Dalal (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Mathematica Book, Fourth Edition (Hardcover)

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!