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What should mathematics majors know about computing, and when should they know it?

Robert Talbert, Ph.D.

My students are using Geogebra , Wolfram|Alpha , and Excel every week in Calculus; LaTeX in my proof-oriented classes; Mathematica in my linear algebra and Calculus 3 classes; and so on. This is mostly calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. Instead, bring it in and teach students how to use it well.

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How Did We Get Here? The Tangled History of the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Stephen Wolfram

But in 1798 Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) (1753–1814) measured the heat produced by the mechanical process of boring a cannon, and began to make the argument that, in contradiction to the caloric theory, there was actually some kind of correspondence between mechanical energy and amount of heat.

Energy 88
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Launching Version 13.1 of Wolfram Language & Mathematica ??????

Stephen Wolfram

You can give Threaded as an argument to any listable function, not just Plus and Times : &#10005. we’re adding SymmetricDifference : find elements that (in the 2-argument case) are in one list or the other, but not both. Now we can use the path function to make a “spiralling” tour video: College Calculus. In Version 13.1

Calculus 114
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Multicomputation: A Fourth Paradigm for Theoretical Science

Stephen Wolfram

Events are like functions, whose “arguments” are incoming tokens, and whose output is one or more outgoing tokens. Chemistry / Molecular Biology. But in thinking about molecular computing it may be crucial—and perhaps it’s also necessary for understanding molecular biology. There are many.

Science 64
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Even beyond Physics: Introducing Multicomputation as a Fourth General Paradigm for Theoretical Science

Stephen Wolfram

Events are like functions, whose “arguments” are incoming tokens, and whose output is one or more outgoing tokens. Chemistry / Molecular Biology. But in thinking about molecular computing it may be crucial—and perhaps it’s also necessary for understanding molecular biology. There are many.

Physics 65
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The Story Continues: Announcing Version 14 of Wolfram Language and Mathematica

Stephen Wolfram

So did that mean we were “finished” with calculus? Somewhere along the way we built out discrete calculus , asymptotic expansions and integral transforms. And in Version 14 there are significant advances around calculus. Another advance has to do with expanding the range of “pre-packaged” calculus operations.

Computer 102
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Remembering the Improbable Life of Ed Fredkin (1934–2023) and His World of Ideas and Stories

Stephen Wolfram

It didn’t help that his knowledge of physics was at best spotty (and, for example, I don’t think he ever really learned calculus). Richard Feynman and I would get into very fierce arguments. But suffice it say to that Ed’s old nemesis—calculus—comes in very handy. It’s just my nature.