For instance, to compute 2 + 2, the user must enter the equation and then press Shift and Enter to compute the result. However, it will still take quite some time to get comfortable with the basics. Mathematica 8 offers a variety of ways to learn the program, whether you prefer to watch videos, read or even get hands-on experience. For instance, to find out a company’s price-earnings ratio, go to Computable Data and then Financial & Economic Data to see that the ratio is part of the Financial Data function. This section breaks down most of the functions supported by Mathematica and helps users try them out. The third option is Wolfram’s Documentation Center (search completed documentation), which resides within the program rather than on the website. All files are available for download by selecting Download Source Code, and files can be opened in Mathematica. Users can also try files before downloading them using Wolfram’s CDF Player, which allows the file to be used directly on the website. Users can browse by topics such as mathematics, business & social systems, kids & fun and physical sciences. The Demonstrations Project section of Wolfram’s website contains a wealth of downloadable Mathematica files of others’ work. The Learning Center on Wolfram’s website contains a variety of resources to learn the program, such as videos, articles, books and professional training.

This screen also provides three options that are especially useful to new users. When opening Mathematica 8, users are presented with the welcome screen, which allows them to create new notebooks or other projects. In fact, Wolfram describes the most basic version of the program as being ideal for “hobbyists and enthusiasts.” Mathematica is the chosen program among most computation-intensive industries such as engineering, biotechnology, statistics and finance.įor non-professional users, there are at least two reasons to try Mathematica: It is fun and it just became much easier to use. The program can handle everything from the most complex algorithms to programming and development as well as interactive presentations.

Wolfram’s Mathematica 8 is the world’s leading application for computations.

Wolfram mathematica windows 8