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Re: Re: Simplifying and Rearranging Expressions

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg96040] Re: [mg96008] Re: Simplifying and Rearranging Expressions
  • From: "David Park" <djmpark at comcast.net>
  • Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2009 06:22:12 -0500 (EST)
  • References: <gls1u8$hjl$1@smc.vnet.net> <15441402.1233316177571.JavaMail.root@m02> <gm0q6p$rpr$1@smc.vnet.net> <21948368.1233483320724.JavaMail.root@m02>

It's OLD technology Tony.

As so often happens, you snip out the more forceful and useful items in my
replies. 

For technical development and communication, an interactive and dynamic
medium, used actively, is orders of magnitude better that a static document.
I think this would be apparent to anyone who had ever actually seen and used
a well written dynamic document. The present old technology is now dominant
but it won't be forever and perhaps not even for long.

WRI is on the right path, and actually not that far from the goal. They need
help from users to get the users` perspective. But there is a certain
responsibility on users also to see the vision and learn how to use the
superb instrument they have.


David Park
djmpark at comcast.net
http://home.comcast.net/~djmpark/  



From: AES [mailto:siegman at stanford.edu] 


In article <gm0q6p$rpr$1 at smc.vnet.net>,
 "David Park" <djmpark at comcast.net> wrote:

> Nevertheless, I would still argue that users should be encouraged to do
> derivations completely ACTIVELY using Mathematica. They may think about
the
> principles, strategy and tactics of a derivation when they are away from
> Mathematica. But implementing a derivation or proof actively on
Mathematica
> has many advantages.

I'll back down on my recent assertions on this point.  People doing 
analyses should do them in whatever way works for them, and both David 
and I can well have different but valid suggestions on this.

What I'm not at all ready to back down on at all-- and what Andrzej 
Kozlowski appears to agree with me on, at least partially -- is the 
broader assertion:  

Proposing to do analysis; numerical calculation; graphing and animation; 
and preparation of final expositions or presentations (i.e., reports, 
articles, talks, online web sites), using just one massive "integrated" 
package (e.g., Mathematica) and/or one single format (e.g., Mathematica 
notebooks), is an absolutely bad, undesirable, misguided, unworkable 
idea.

It may be workable, even convenient, in some limited cases:  A simple 
derivation, leading to a simple report or memo, which also functions as 
a seminar presentation or class lecture.

But as a general or universal approach, it's a terrible idea, for many 
reasons, not all of these connected specifically with Mathematica, but 
with many of them very well illustrated by Mathematica.




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