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Re: Show and 6.0

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg89566] Re: Show and 6.0
• From: AES <siegman at stanford.edu>
• Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:09:02 -0400 (EDT)
• Organization: Stanford University
• References: <g2ij15$rnk$1@smc.vnet.net> <g2lb77$946$1@smc.vnet.net> <200806110716.DAA14841@smc.vnet.net> <200806110915.FAA20331@smc.vnet.net> <g2qhed$8l3$1@smc.vnet.net>

In article <g2qhed$8l3$1 at smc.vnet.net>,
 Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu> wrote:

> I, for one, regard Wolfram's "The Mathematica Book" as excellent, both 
> as a reference and as a tutorial.  I have always found it quite 
> readable, and indeed I am quite sure I have read through at least nearly 
>   everything in at least nearly all chapters. And the pages of some of 
> those chapters are very well worn.

Fully agree that this book was, and is, very well worth having, even 
though attempting to have it provide both user documentation and 
reference documentation (plus a certain amount of show-off hype for 
Mathematica) made it huge and unwieldy.  

If I were the one re-doing it, in its time, or even now, I'd convert it 
into modular format -- e.g,  a set of 5 or 6 paperbound modules focusing 
on introductory user documentation, that you could pick up and use one 
at a time (and that could be revised and reissued one at a time), with 
the rigorous reference documentation all put entire online, as it should 
be.

(The Van Nostrand Modular Series on Semiconductor Electronics was an 
early, and superb, example of this approach to documenting and teaching 
a complex and evolving technical topics.)

• References:
  • Re: Show and 6.0
    • From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>
  • Re: Re: Show and 6.0
    • From: Andrzej Kozlowski <akoz@mimuw.edu.pl>