free math software

[Brian W]

Ok I have taken step 1 and downloaded an algebra review for university placement.

Now I need help with step 2. I have M.S. and the term 'fine motor skills' just does not make sense when applied to my body. What I need is free math symbol software that will allow me to use my computer like pencil and paper.

In a while I will definitely be moving to step 3 help. It has been a long time since high school and I undoubtedly will need help with this review material and hopefully some of you math types will help out.
Brian

[mswhin63]

Hi Brian, I use Openoffice which has a formula program and that just writes equations. I have also noticed a couple of the open source maths programs. They are:
http://www.sagemath.org/index.html
http://www.geogebra.org/cms/

The last one works with Google. I am sure there are a lot of other open source maths programs out there.

[sheeny]

For years I used MathCAD, which is not free of course, but I was able to pick up an older version (MathCAD 6) very cheaply. Unfortunately, I can't get it to run on Windows 7, so I've been looking around at other maths programs.

The two free ones I have at the moment are Octave and Maxima. Both are a bit clumsy in terms of presentation in their own way, but very powerful for computations.

Octave is a command line type program, but once you get past that, its programmable and handles all the good stuff like complex numbers, matrices, calculus etc. Maxima comes with a GUI (wxmaxima) which helps ease the learning curve. For serious number crunching, they're are both good for the money:P, but I suspect what you're after is a more for presentation of mathematic equations in documents....? ...in which case neither of these is good (Maxima might be able to be used with a lot of fuss and bother and cut and paste).

There used to be an addin for Microsoft Office for doing equations. I think it was called Mathtype:shrug:... I'm not sure now, it doesn't seem to be available standard with Office 2010. I'll stand corrected if wrong.

Al.

[sheeny]

I just had a look... Mathtype is not free:

http://www.dessci.com/en/products/MathType/

I thought I had a free one with my old installation of Office 2003, but I can't think what it was called.

Al.

[bojan]

Guys,
math software is good for producing nice presentations and for avoiding computational errors, because the leg work is done for you by computer.
However, I seriously doubt it will be of any help to a novice to understand what is going on here and why.
What I am talking about is mathematical concepts and relations.. all that software can be used by people who already understand those things, but it could be a confusing and a perfect deterrent for those who are not at that level.

Brian, if you are serious about learning math starting from fundamentals, then I suggest you try a course at uni (I think Swinburne is offering math courses see here (http://www.open.edu.au/public/courses-and-units/units-list-ugrd-swin-mat) for example) or get someone to tutor you on one-to one basis. Of course, it all depends at what level you are at the moment, I can't tell that from your comments posted here.
With things like math the proper start is absolutely essential - mathematics is about introducing the strict method and discipline of thinking into your practices.. and if you missed that, you will never get it right, which means you will never be able to advance properly.
It is a very rare case that individuals (usually very gifted in that area) get much sense out of it all by themselves - without guiding by a good teacher...
My high school teacher was absolute gem.. and this is where I get my fundamentals. In primary school, math teacher was a very good person, but useless in terms of teaching - she even couldn't keep the basic discipline in the class so that we who were interested could do anything without disturbance from others.
Good books would be my preference but unfortunately I have no idea what's available here and now in Oz..

[mswhin63]

I use Openoffice purely for presentation in essays other than that I learn at school. The others I found are confirmation only.

I use www.brightstorm.com for tutoring.

[multiweb]

That is a great link! Thanks. :thumbsup:

[mjc]

I think Brian is initially looking for presentation / rendering (correct me if I'm wrong Brian) - in which case OpenOffice is really okay. I have used OpenOffice for the expression of mathematics for several years and it's quite expressive - the language used is generally quite simple but there is a learning curve with anything. I have printed the manual for the OpenMath component and still have to refer to it on occasion - so I keep it by my desk at home. When ever I write notes, commit thoughts to electronic form, I rely upon OpenOffice. For publication purposes LaTeX appears to be the language of choice but I have not tried LaTeX - OpenOffice works for my own private writings.

If you seek something more like computational assistance for purpose of learning then Bojan makes some very good comments - there are pitfalls (and clever work-a-rounds) that only proper training will generally provide.

The three mathematical packages worth considering (in my opinion) are
wxMaxima (http://sourceforge.net/projects/wxmaxima/) - focus: computer aided algebra
scilab (http://www.scilab.org/) - focus: numerical processing
R (http://www.r-project.org/) - focus: statistical processing

All three packages are free and there is considerable overlap in their capabilities.

And while off-topic I'd like to also add TopCat (http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/%7Embt/topcat/) as a very useful tool for astronomers who wish to process data from various tables and astronomical catalogues. I only include this as these four packages - from my reading - as they more or less cover anything a serious amateur astronomer is likely to require without having to write dedicated software or perform some quite intricate manual mathematics.

Caveat: I don't have any meaningful experience with these packages but they are the packages that seem to emerge as the free resources that are pre-eminent for professionals working with science data (from what I perceive). These are the packages that my explorations suggest that I should, at least, acquaint myself with.

And of course OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) - I'd recommend it to anyone for general "office productivity" requirements.

Mark C.

[Brian W]

Hmmmm seems I have not made myself clear...

I DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO WRITE WITH PEN AND PAPER

After 30 years with M.S. my fine motor skills, and on a bad day my not so fine motor skills are shot. I am looking for a program that will allow me to work out math problems in the same way that someone with fine motor skills can do them on a black board or in a scribbler.

Bojan I appreciate your concerns about a tutor et al but as I live on the side of a mountain in the Philippines with no math tutor of any quality within an hours drive by public transport that's not going to happen.

I have looked into Swinburne but even if they would accept me I do not have the finances.

I am afraid that doing it on my own is my only option. It will not be quick and it will not be efficient but with a little on line help I will be better at math in the future than I am now.

Brian

[renormalised]

I see what you want, Brian. A program that you can use like a scribbling pad. I can't think of any that would be freeware and the ones that are available are not cheap, as far as I know. You'd need one with good character recognition ability so it can understand maths formulas. I don't know if there are any around like that.

[marki]

Brian if you are a registered student you may be able to get hold of a program called "Scientific Notebook" fairly cheaply. This program has the savagely expensive maple engine but has a wonderful interface which lets you type in equations as you see them rather than writting reams of code to get an answer. Failing that you could try one of the programable calculators which can deal with algebra in symbolic form.


Cheers

Mark

[renormalised]

That might be the only one that's readily available as far as cost goes.

Hadn't thought of one of those calculators...they would be good in any case:):)

[bojan]

This looks very good at the first glance.
Isn't it frustrating sometimes that there are people out there who want money for something that helps acquiring the knowledge already in public domain (effectively monopolising it) ... that should be part of our basic culture?

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I'd be happy to assist you with maths if possible, here or by PM. I'm sure there are other IISers too.

I also had a look at Brightstar a while back and it is really good.

Cheers

[astroron]

I am a dullard at math, so am no help at all:sadeyes: but I am surprised no-one had suggested this path before now:shrug:
Well Done Geoff:thumbsup:
Cheers

[Brian W]

Hi and thanks to everyone. I will be downloading and trying the suggested software. Geoff when I have a problem I promise you and others will be reading about it.

Brian

[bojan]

Same here... I will try to help whenever I have time.

[bartman]

Loving that Brightstorm.com link Malcom !
Thank you.....brings back memories
Cheers
Bartman

[Brian W]

Brightstar is excellent. Suddenly I have my own teacher who is willing to repeat the explanation as many times as I need it.

Scilab... good thing I have lots of room on my hard drive and in my mind. This one i am going to have to grow into.

Open office, especially the formula section looks like what I need.

Looks like a good start.
Brian

[Brian W]

make that Brightstorm.
B.

[sheeny]

Brian,

If you have MS Office, up to 2003 there was an equation/formula writer in MS Office Tools. In 2007 onwards it has been merged into Word. If you have MS Word 2007 or later go to Insert, Equation.

Al.

[renormalised]

Yep, Al, that's what I use.

[renormalised]

LaTeX is not too bad, Mark. I've used it a number of times when compiling assignments and other articles. Actually, quite a few journals have their own LaTeX standards and api's to use for article submission. If you use a Mac, grab yourself a copy of MacTeX. It's pretty large (about 1GB) but it has quite a few extra bits and pieces apart from the LaTeX program itself. Well worth the download.

[GeoffW1]

Oops that was my error.

Can't spell, can add.

Cheers

[Brian W]

Not quite state of the art but for the teachers or simply those who are interested in how things used to be done

http://books.google.com/books?id=F4cAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=a+course+on+mathematics&hl=en&ei=fkaoTYa6EJHSuwOChYyFCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

a rather long URL but it is a textbook from 1836 for the use of the Royal Military Academy and I find it an interesting read.
Brian

[bojan]

A classic...

For your convenience, I put some effort into finding a direct link for download of this book..
see here (http://books.google.com/books/download/A_course_of_mathematics.pdf?id=F4cA AAAAMAAJ&hl=en&capid=AFLRE71YoVJOZaA_ZlrUYaVWZGF0-iYRIq4Wewp85LxXgK956QW40muRccz7y6or WkEn0R-lwHX4RwG8yFVTk35WdTT0BVjfhQ&continue=http://books.google.com/books/download/A_course_of_mathematics.pdf%3Fid%3D F4cAAAAAMAAJ%26output%3Dpdf%26hl%3D en).

However, be careful: this book may be a bit too concentrated on practical issues and problems.. it is accurate of course but it may lack the wide enough insight into mathematical way of thinking... Perhaps you need something more modern... it is a pity you can't read Russian (my assumption) - they used to have a lot of very cheap books (some of them were re-prints, sold for a fraction of price.. books written by Demidovich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Demidovich) were favourite reference at uni for lots of us.. I found the English translation here (http://www.scribd.com/doc/31380890/Problems-in-Mathematical-Analysis-Demidovich))
This is just my feeling at the moment, I might be wrong.

[Brian W]

Thanks Bojan, I now have volume 2 as well as volume 1 plus Demidovich's work. It does concentrate on the practical but then it was for the military.

Growing up in English Canada meant that I had to take French in high school. Ended up taking the same year 4 times... your assumption about me not reading or speaking Russian is correct.

The good news is that I am having a lot of fun with the algebra... I find the joy in moving the numbers and finding the solution very similar to the joy I have with star hopping.

Brian

[higginsdj]

You might want to ponder over something like SpaceTime (http://www.spacetime.us/). All platforms including iPad with excellent 3D plotting and animation thereoff.

Cheers

[Brian W]

Hi David, ponder over may well be the right term. Downloaded it and while it will take me a while to work through the tutorials it certainly makes it easy to put in the formulas and equations.

This could well be my pen and paper.
Brian