bill@hao.UUCP (Bill Roberts) (10/15/86)
Has anyone in netland heard of any algebraic manipulator systems for the
MacIntosh? I recently saw were a company called Industrial Computations Inc.
of Wellesley, MA is marketing a program called "PowerMath". The ad reads
Type in your problem, using conventional math notation, and
PowerMath will solve your calculus, algebra and matrix
problems. PowerMath does factorials, summations, simultaneous
equations, plots, Taylor series, trigonometry and allows
unlimited number size.
That last statement ("...unlimited number size.") hints at PowerMath being a
symbolic computation engine as opposed to an equation solver like TKSolver.
Thanks in advance for any input.
Bill Roberts
NCAR/HAO
Boulder, CO
!hao!bill
"...most people spend their lives avoiding intense situations,
a Repo man seeks them out!"merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (10/18/86)
> ...I recently saw were a company called Industrial Computations Inc. > of Wellesley, MA is marketing a program called "PowerMath". The ad reads > > Type in your problem, using conventional math notation, and > PowerMath will solve your calculus, algebra and matrix > problems. PowerMath does factorials, summations, simultaneous > equations, plots, Taylor series, trigonometry and allows > unlimited number size. > > That last statement ("...unlimited number size.") hints at PowerMath being a > symbolic computation engine as opposed to an equation solver like TKSolver. > Thanks in advance for any input. > Bill Roberts I had a chance to use PowerMath and was severely impressed. It does all sorts of mathematical functions and has a very nice Macintosh interface. I have a feeling, though, that is program was originally designed for a mainframe. I would love to see PowerMath run on a Mac with a Prodigy upgrade, or maybe a HyperDrive 2000. I used one on a 512K Mac and, while it was very good, was the most slowest (yes, I meant to do that) program I had ever seen. The program took minutes to do what TK!Solver seconds. On the other hand, it did do everything it advertised. Made good graphs, too. If time is not a problem for you, I'd really suggest it. If anyone has detes on it running on a Prodigy upgrade, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! -- "Do you want him?! Peter Merchant Or Do you want me!? 'Cause I want you!"
bwchar@watmum.UUCP (Bruce Char) (10/18/86)
There is an article by two of the authors of PowerMath in the Proceedings of the 1986 Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation (sponsored by ACM SIGSAM): "PowerMath, A System for the Macintosh", by J. Davenport and C. Roth, pp. 13-15. Abstract from the paper: PowerMath is a symbolic algebra system for the MacIntosh computer. This paper outlines the design decisions that were made during its development, and explains how the novel MacIntosh environment helped and hindered the development of the system. While the interior of PowerMath is fairly conventional, the user interface has many novel features. It is these that make PowerMath not just another microcomputer algebra system. Bruce Char Dept. of Computer Science University of Waterloo