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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?
What about octave (free Matlab clone)?
R statistical language
GraphCalc is a good graphing program. It might not do everything in math, but it graphs pretty nicely.
The whole technology upgrade the schools have been getting doesn't seem to be making learning more efficient. It seems like a big waste of money.
If a kid doesn't spend time studying his books, why would he start studying his software?
There were no computers in my middle/high school math classes and I learned math just fine. What is your friend trying to do that couldn't be done better with pen and paper and old fashioned teaching? Computers aren't a panacea.
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I wouldn't recommend software at all. I would recommend something we call "pencil and paper." Learning mathematics (and reading music, and a number of other such undertakings) is as much a mechanical skill as an intellectual one and the quickest way to the brain is through the fingers.
Come back when they're in college and ask again.
KFG
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.
I know this is a bit off-topic, but it can't be overemphasized:
If possible, students should learn the principles behind the math before they are allowed to use fancy tools like calculators and computers.
My high school teacher made us learn logarithms and trigonometry using a pencil, graph paper, and tables, THEN we got to use a calculator. As for calculus, we did all our graphs by hand, sub-$200 graphing calculators weren't available back then.
I hope you get some good answers in this thread.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
There is R
R Project
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
It is being actively developed. While William Schelter was maintaining it (for 19 lonely years), development was very slow indeed. I gather that most of the work was done by him, and some of his graduate students. Since his death in 2001, a number of other people have come on board, and there is a lot of catching up to do.
Some documentation has been rewritten, a great many bugs have been squashed, the package has been ported to several Lisps (yes, it does matter to users), there has been at least one new Emacs mode written for it, it can be used with Texmacs, and so on. Some of the people who are working on it are big names in their spheres, like Richard Fateman, who worked on the original Macsyma.
Version 5.9.1 was released in September '04, and the next big step will be the GREAT SOURCE DOWNCASING. Maxima is so old that most of it is written in all caps. There is a lot to do to bring it into the 21st century, and most of what's being done right now is behind-the-scenes stuff.
As you say, it's decent software now. It's fully usable, with a useful GUI for Windows (developed on Schelter's watch, as I recall). It is probably better for memory intensive work than Maple or Mathematica; that's what initially got me started using it.
See what I've been reading.