Re:SymPy Gamma: an open-source, Python-based alternative to ...
by primitivesuave on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @03:31PM
(#7146604)
Your comment reminded me of a very interesting observation I had when I was looking at Wolfram Alpha analytics - for some reason, the number of queries drops dramatically around mid-December, and only returns to the original volume around mid-January. I was puzzled by how this phenomenon repeated itself every year.
It took me a minute to realize that during that time, every college student is on vacation.
Re:SymPy Gamma: an open-source, Python-based alternative to ...
by runarberg on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @02:52PM
(#7146290)
I use IPython/SymPy for the same purpose. It is nice to be able to do these calculations on my local machine, in stead of relying on an internet conection. Plus I get the powers of Python to back me up if I want to do anything more compilcated.
Re:SymPy Gamma: an open-source, Python-based alternative to ...
by shawn-furyan on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @03:55PM
(#7146806)
It's not nothing, however, that Wolfram Alpha works spectacularly well on a phone. The mobile app even has a very useful keyboard that has common math symbols. With mobile data, at any given time, I'm much more likely to have a computing device with an internet connection than I am to have one with a useable programming keyboard.
Not that I'm against the progression of these tools, far from it, I just think that wolfram alpha does a better job at math homework type problems for most people most of the time. If you have more complicated modeling/statistical/etc. work, then bring out the bigger guns.
Re:SymPy Gamma: an open-source, Python-based alternative to ...
by mh_yam on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @04:07PM
(#7146895)
I used the Wolfram Alpha iPad app in real-time during mathematics / statistics lectures to check the notes on the blackboard and to try out alternatives. Very useful in the classroom.
Re:SymPy Gamma: an open-source, Python-based alternative to ...
by runarberg on Wednesday January 29, 2014 @06:21PM
(#7147856)
I see that some professors (not in my school though) publish they’re lecture notes as IPython notebooks. That is super clever and allows interactivity with the lecture material. I don’t know the mobile/tablet support of IPython notebook however.
In advanced math classes (upper undergraduate or graduate) it is almost impossible to check results or do a complex operation on a simple calculator.
In many cases I have to turn to a tool like Mathematica/Wolfram Alpha. I have a W|A Pro account and it has worked wonders for me. For example, entering "integral from 0 to infinity of (ye^(-y)((-1/y)(e^(-t))+1/y)) with respect to y" into Wolfram Alpha is so much easier than doing the same with a TI-89. I can copy/paste and adjust very easily and the software produces multiple interpretations/representations which is very useful.