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Is it reasonable to guess that this is a wrapper around SymPy and related Python libraries? If so, it might be a nice thing, even if it doesn't replace the enti
by analog31 2y ago
Is it reasonable to guess that this is a wrapper around SymPy and related Python libraries? If so, it might be a nice thing, even if it doesn't replace the entire corpus of Mathematica, to the satisfaction of mathematicians. Specialized, domain specific software, still tends to be a tempting but elusive target for the open source movement.
I'm an industrial physicist. I used Reduce in grad school, and Mathematica in the 90s. Since then I've also used MuPad, WxMaxima, and SymPy. Today, in terms of functionality, SymPy is sufficient for my needs. It lets me "code" derivations that I used to do by hand, directly in the same programs where I use the derived formulas. This makes the whole shebang more self-documenting and reproducible, even if the math I'm doing isn't super sophisticated.
But compared to Mathematica (perhaps biased by past experience), I still find SymPy to be awkward for use as a math notebook. For this reason, I'm willing to explore a tool like this.
Though I don't know the cost of Mathematica to schools, a free alternative might have an educational use. A friend of mine was a high school math teacher, and used Mathematica in the classroom. But the cost of maintaining a license was an ongoing issue.
- cap11235 2y agoIt is specific to your lab that symbolic anything works. My ion trapping lab would just go "yeah, great. Keep it there for a couple years". Unfun, serious experiments have their own joy, but I'm not expecting great things in the next decade. I just want to be able to breathe on my own.