The Mathematica Primer

This book is a short, focused introduction to Mathematica, the comprehensive software system for doing mathematics. Written for the novice, this engaging book contains an explanation of essential Mathematica commands, as well as the rich Mathematica interface for preparing polished technical documents. Mathematica can be used to graph functions, solve equations, perform statistics tests, and much more. In addition, it incorporates word processing and desktop publishing features for combining mathematical computations with text and graphics, and producing polished, integrated, interactive documents. You can even use it to create documents and graphics for the Web. This book explains everything you need to know to begin using Mathematica to do all these things and more. Written for Mathematica version 3, this book can also be used with earlier versions of the software. Intermediate and advanced users may even find useful information here, especially if they are making the switch to version 3 from an earlier version.

"Coombes and colleagues offer a `short, focused introduction to Mathematica,' designed to be useful to beginners as well as more experienced Mathematica users. The text is well written; graphics are used effectively." Choice

"This book is an excellent first course in Mathematics 3 for the uninitiated. Overall, the book achieves the purpose of a "primer" admirably, and I can recommend it to both the instructor and the student studying independently." Siam Review