Re: maple or derive

Sharon Smith (ssmith@ADMIN1.AUGUSTA.TEC.GA.US)
Tue, 21 May 1996 15:58:15 -0400

We have Mathematica and have been very frustrated by it.
We get error messages when trying to solve equations such as x 1 = 0.
We've been told that is because only one solution is real so rather than
give us the one real solution we get 'not a computer sized number'. We
wanted training on how to incorporate it into our classroom presentations
and the cost for Experts at Wolfram to do it is prohibitive. We found
someone who was willing to come here and give us a full day of instruction
for 10 people at a cost of $3000 and our school turned us down on the $$.
There are so many quirks to it we wish we had bought Mathcad instead. Is
our experience unique? Has anyone out there had success using it? If so,
are you willing to share your ideas?
Thanks

At 03:11 PM 5/21/96 -0400, you wrote:
>What about Mathermatica? We're finally upgrading our dinosaur PCs
>in the math lad (Baldwin SHS) to Pentium 133Mhz PCs running WIN95 and
>Netware 4.1 (etc.) and we're going to try mathematica.
>
>On Tue, 21 May 1996, Alan Wilson wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 20 May 1996, Steve Kraisler wrote:
>>
>> > I plan to augment my calculus class (inner city high school) with a
>> > computer calculus program. Any suggestions on which on I should use?
>>
>>
>> I can't comment on Maple, but we have used Derive here with great success.
>> The version (early -- we haven't upgraded in a while) runs with adaquate
>> speed on old XTs and can fit on a 360K disk. While it is true that we
>> have the equipment to run Windows based programs, I prefer Derive in that
>> it is reasonable to assume that even the poorest of our students could
>> ponder purchasing a very used XT....... [This is not required as the
>> college has adaquate facilities, but it is an option for the students to
>> consider as they transfer to 4 year schools.
>>
>
>A Jorge Garcia ........ aj317@freenet.buffalo.edu ........ Applied Mathematics
> Baldwin SHS: K12BAGJA@vaxc.hofstra.edu
> Nassau CC & SUNY Farmingdale: GARCIAAJ@snyfarva.bitnet
> http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sffbookclub
> 71232.2751@compuserve.com
> MRGARCIA@mcimail.com
>
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sharon Smith
Augusta TechnicalInstitute
Math Instructor
Isa 43:1-3
email ssmith@augusta.tec.ga.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~