Mathematica in Action Problem Solving Through Visualization and Computation [Paperback]

Plenty of examples and case studies utilize Mathematica 7's newest tools, such as dynamic manipulations and adaptive three-dimensional plotting.?

Emphasizes the breadth of Mathematica and the impressive results of combining techniques from different areas.

Whenever possible, the book shows how Mathematica can be used to discover new things. Striking examples include the design of a road on which a square wheel bike can ride, the design of a drill that can drill square holes,?and new and surprising formulas for p.

Visualization is emphasized throughout, with finely crafted graphics in each chapter.

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 mathemalc+