> I must say I in general don't understand the hate a lot of people have for Wolfram I can only speak for myself here, but hate is definitely the wrong word. I

> I must say I in general don't understand the hate a lot of people have for Wolfram I can only speak for myself here, but hate is definitely the wrong word. In fact, I actually greatly admire his work and value the insight offered in his writings. Mathematica was also a pretty valuable tool for me while I was in grad school. At the same time, consider for a moment his self-description in the Mathematica documentation & in his books (http://reference.wolfram.com/legacy/v5_2/book/section-0.1.1 http://reference.wolfram.com/legacy/v5_2/book/section-0.1.1, , http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0521643147/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0521643147/ref=sib_dp_pt#rea... [scroll to the back cover]): > Stephen Wolfram is the creator of Mathematica, and a well-known scientist. He is widely regarded as the most important innovator in technical computing today, as well as one of the world's most original research scientists. I'm sorry, but there is no scientist or mathematician who should feel comfortable writing or approving that sort of un-objective self-evaluation.