Mathematica (V4.0)

A System for Doing Mathematics by Computer

Mathematica can be run in the CSB core either from the command line on an SGI or from an X-motif frontend on darwin ONLY. UPDATE: Since darwin has been decommissioned, there is no longer a licensed machine available to run the graphical frontend.

Man pages exist for math and mcc for the command level use (math).

There is a very complete Help Browser in the Graphical User Interface version (mathematica). Just click on the Help button.

User Guides are available in the common core area. They are: "Getting Started" (thin paperback); "Standard Add-on Packages" (thick paperback); "The Mathematica Book" (Thick hardcover).

Online tutorials and other resources are available at Indiana University.

Command level

Type:

math (or math [-record [file]] to keep a record of your session)

You will get the input prompt (In[1]:= )

To exit Mathmatica type Ctrl-C then exit:

In[8]:= ^C
Interrupt> exit

Examples:

In[1]:= 2 + 2
Out[1]= 4


In[2]:= 2 + 3 +
        4 + 5 + 6
Out[2]= 20


In[1]:= Plot3D[Sin[x y], {x, 0, 3}, {y, 0, 3}]
Out[1]= -SurfaceGraphics-

A plot should appear on your screen. You can save to a file in Encapsulated Postscript format:

In[6]:= Display ["tmp.eps", %, "EPS"]
Out[6]= -SurfaceGraphics-

This *.eps file may be printed on the laser jet printers.

Formats available are: EPS, GIF, TIFF, Illustrator, MGF, MPS, PCL, PDF, PBM, PSImage.

Graphical User Interface Frontend

Type:

mathematica

Then in the window type:

2 + 2 [Shift-Return] (Pressing Return by itself enters a line-feed)

After a while (it is a big calculation) the answer will appear in the window:

Out[1]=
   4

Beyond this you should consult the User Guides or the Help button.