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Open Source Math Software For Education?
Rui Carmo writes "Now here's something you don't get asked every day, but which a friend happens to need for her kids: If you had to suggest Open-Source software for mathematics - somewhere from high-school to freshman level, and not merely for 'pure' mathematics, but also applicable to physics and statistics (the kids are considering going into Applied Maths and Engineering), what would you point people toward, assuming they have access to both Linux and Windows? I know this is a niche thing and that there is nothing out there that even comes close to Wolfram's excellent Mathematica (which I used on my old NeXTCube), but surely something along the lines of (or simpler than) Calculation Center exists?" The Knoppix-based Quantian might be a good place to start; what math software do you recommend?
I hate to state the obvious, but Math.com is where I've spent some time brushing up on all the math I've forgotten.
I'd love a math tutor style of program that would fluidly walk you through from basic math all the way to calc and trig, automatically adjusting to your rate of learning based on little exercises.
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Maxima:
It's the closest thing I know of to an OSS Mathematica. It is to Mathematica what The Gimp is to Photoshop. Namely, it's a fair way behind the front runner but still very usable.
There is R
R Project
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
Yeah, and guys in the stone age did math with rocks and did fine too.
But I think progress education of younger generations if we allow them to use new technology. Introducing math to kids in middle school allows them to become more familiar with the technology. Like, my dad can do math perfectly with pen and pencil but can use a computer or graph on a calculator. That shows the difference in generations.
Actually its totally appropriate. Highschools that want to do CalculusI thru DiffEq for their advanced students use Mathematica and Calculus Remote from The Ohio State University (CROSU), or University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Netmath program. I believe Harvard does the same.
I think a problem might be that you associate highschool math with trig. Using Mathematica in a self-based course of instruction they can move as fast as is natural for them. Why not let the kids move past dull rote mechanical skills and learning by doing something useful?
Is there really any reason why (the undergrad intro) QM can't be taught in HS using visualization and moderate Linear Algebra skills? I mean, if they can get as far as DiffEq? Isn't it more the *style* of instruction (chalk vs. powerpoint), and what we have them do for homework that holds them back more than the concepts?
Have you checked out the pricing on math products lately? I have. It's freakin' stratospheric, and then they nickel and dime you for extensions.
My main issue with this pricing structure is that a hobbyist like myself simply can't justify the expense. And that's very unfortunate.
Macsyma was actually started at MIT, written in lisp, part of Project MAC. At least two different versions came out, Maxima was from the Department of Energy's version, which has been open sourced. Another version was owned by Symbolics, then was spun off into its own company. I beleive there's still another version and MIT still retains the rights to it. Feel free to correct me on any of this- but for sure the software has a long and tangled history.
No-one's mentioned the superb pari-gp yet. It'll draw graphs using gnuplot and unlike much other software of it's type it has excellent documentation.
Lisp is also prominently absent but I agree with what Chaitin says about it being the natural computer language for mathematically minded computer users. Actually I'm surprised it isn't more popular with other software developers - it seems to me to make any kind of programming easier and more pleasurable.
People who've mentioned Maxima also haven't said anything much about graphical (non-plotting) interfaces to it. I like imaxima in emacs and also TeXmacs - which will act as a graphical front end to many other mathematical programs.
I lead the Maxima project, http://maxima.sourceforge.net/. Maxima is a full-featured GPL'd computer algebra system under active development. We don't hear much from people who want to use Maxima for high school mathematics, but we would welcome the input.
That would be the part where they make it impossible for anybody else to develop the thing any further, so that it suits their needs when the original developer has no interest in them. There's a reason why proprietary software sucks.
If you want something like Maple, but open source, try getting Maxima. It runs on Windows and Linux, can do algebra, calculus, and a good amount of other stuff, and you can use TeXmacs as a front end.
My dad was a physicist at ORNL who started using the DOE MIT version of Maxima in the early 1970s. He thought Maxima was the greatest thing since sliced bread. His division hired a new Phd at one point whose dissertation had taken 18 months to derive by hand. When he joined ORNL, he ran the problem through Maxima. Only took an afternoon and he was quite relieved when Maxima got the same answer he had gotten by hand.
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Every time a discussion of math packages comes up, Octave is always mentioned right away, but Euler gets ignored. I'm curious why people seem to prefer Octave over Euler so much that Euler is virtually unknown.