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finding M commands to do the job - book recommendation

  • To: mathgroup at yoda.physics.unc.edu
  • Subject: finding M commands to do the job - book recommendation
  • From: gaylord at ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
  • Date: Thu, 14 May 1992 04:16:38 -0500

there's  a considerable amount of e-mail in the group that goes like  "i
would like to do xxx and i tried doing it in such-and-such a way but it
didn't work" and a response then appears to the effect that "there is a
built-in function yyy which does precisely that"  (eg., Names, Sequence
Composition have all recently come up).

the problem with the bible is that its sometimes difficult to locate the
specific command you need.

i just want to mention a book  "Mathematica Quick Reference" by Nancy
Blachman. Its a spiral-bound
8.5" x 4" collection of all of the M commands plus a list
references,special forms, etc. I think it costs about $18.50.

The commands are explained in the Blachman Guide in much more detail than
they are in the reference guide section of the Wolfram book.

at my desk, I often refer to the guide at the same time that I look at the
bible for an explanation of a command and on those rare occasions when i'm
away from my computer, i usually carry the guide around with me for casual
reading (well, its hard to find anything good to read nowadays; sf has
deteriorated into fantasy and detective novels are too ... sorry about
that, literacy criticism goes in a different  discussion group). 

also, the guide weighs considereably less than the bible and has a smaller
footprint.
 
A-W supposedly publishes the Guide but my bookstore hasn't been able to get
any copies so i called up Variable Symbols in Berkeley (510-843-8701) and
ordered it directly from them.

anyway, i think its a really good deal and I recommend it highly.



-- no one paid me to write this... but i wish they would; i could use the
money -------

richard








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