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The MATHEMATICA ® Book, Version 4 ReviewIt'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.
The MATHEMATICA ® Book, Version 4 OverviewWith over a million users around the world, the Mathematica software system created by Stephen Wolfram has defined the direction of technical computing for the past decade. The enhanced text and hypertext processingand state-of-the-art numerical computation features ensure that Mathematica 4 takes scientific computing into the next century. New to this version: visual tour of key features, practical tutorial introduction, full descriptions of 1100 built-in functions, a thousand illustrative examples, easy-to-follow descriptive tables, essays highlighting key concepts, examples of data import and export, award-winning gallery of Mathematica graphics, gallery of mathematical typesetting, dictionary of 700 special characters, a complete guide to the MathLink API, notes on internal implementation, and an index with over 10,000 entries copublished with Wolfram Media.
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