Re: Does Mathematica really need more printed, introductory documentation?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg88279] Re: Does Mathematica really need more printed, introductory documentation?
- From: AES <siegman at stanford.edu>
- Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:26:14 -0400 (EDT)
- Organization: Stanford University
- References: <fv6uoq$rpc$1@smc.vnet.net>
In article <fv6uoq$rpc$1 at smc.vnet.net>, Bill Rowe <readnews at sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Given it has only been a few months since Mathematica 6 was > released and the time it takes to write any text and get it > published it should not be surprising there are not any third > party books on Mathematica yet. But given the number of books > published for previous versions, it seems certain there will be > books for version 6 in due time. Bill, it's been for all practical purposes a _year_ now since Mathematica 6 was released. [Cf., e.g., a sizable story about it in Scientific Computing World dated May 30, 2007: <http://www.scientific-computing.com/products/review_details.php?review_i d=17>] And though I don't have a cite at hand, I'm sure I've read about how major software companies, when they have a major emerging project or upgrade under development, will invite a selected author or authors with a good track record to come into their company and give them substantial access to advance knowledge about the developing product --- with appropriate nondisclosure agreements of course --- just so their book or manual can appear on the shelves at the same instant the product is released. A software company may do this because they don't want to divert in-house resources from product development to preparing an book for the emerging product or upgrade --- or they may do this even though they're developing their own manual also, on the grounds that "the more, the better" so far as manuals go; they're in the software business, not the manual business. To be frank I just cannot imagine Wolfram Research not having done the same.