Re: A Few Questions
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg4842] Re: A Few Questions
- From: tharter at nswc.navy.mil (Terry Harter)
- Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 01:12:53 -0400
- Organization: Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
Peter Salzman wrote:
>Hi there everyone
>
>Question 1: Thank you for your help with doing piecewise vector field plots.
> Now I need to know how to do a vector field plot in polar
> coordinates. Is there something like PolarPlotVectorField?
>
>Question 2: Everyone seems to know all these packages that need to be loaded
> in before they can be used. They're not mentioned in the Wolfram
> book, at least, not 2nd ed. How do I learn about these packages
> too? Is there a book or gopher or ftp or web site that I can get
> a complete listing of all these packages?
>
>Question 3: Maple has a tensor package. Matlab has a Schwarz-Christoffel
> transformation package. Does MMA have either of these?
>
>Last Question: I would appreciate to hear what people think is the best MMA
> book. The Wolfram book is OK, but I'd prefer something that
> went into more depth and didn't jump around as much (personal
> preference...).
>
>Thanks for making down this far! :-)
>
>peter
Regarding Question 1, there is a past issue of Mathematica in Education (in
94, I think - I don't have the issue with me at work (its at home)) that addressed
this kind of question. email me if you need exact reference. Also, see the
Spring 96 issue of "The Mathematica Journal" which contains an article on Arrows
and Local Variables by Tom Zeller of WRI. It has an example of ListPlotVectorField.
It may not be *exactly* what you require, but maybe you can invoke some ingenuity
in using it for your purpose.
Regarding Question 2: See WRI Tech Report "Guide to the Standard Packages"
Regarding Question 3: Third party application "MathTensor" is commercially
available. See Below. I have no experience with it but am considering getting it.
Regarding Last Question: I rather like "Mathematica for Scientists & Engineers"
by Thomas B. Bahder, Addison-Wesley, 1995, 846pp, ISBN 0-201-54090-8 Chapter 8
of this book has a section on vectors and tensors, including MathTensor from Mathsolutions, Inc.
Hope this helps....
Dr. Terry Harter
NSWC-DD, B35