A Crash Course in Mathematica

by Stephan Kaufmann

This compact introduction to Mathematicaaccessible to beginners at all levelspresents the basic elements of the latest version 3 (front § kernel, standard packages). Using examples and exercises not specific to a scientific area, it teaches readers how to effectively solve problems in their own field. The cross-platform CD-ROM contains the entire book in the form of Mathematica notebooks, including color graphics, animations, and hyperlinks, plus the program MathReader.

200 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 1999

Reviews

[Thomas Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Crash Course in Mathematica, Stephan Kaufman, 1999, 200 pages, for Mathematica version 3, ISBN 3764361271, Library-of-Congress QA 76.95 K3913 1999 Steenbock Library. Translated from German by Katrin Gygax. Originally /Mathematica--kurz und bündig/, 1998.

This is a good primer. The basics this book covers are still current.

As of 2022, Mathematica Version 13 is current.

Current Wolfram books:
https://www.wolfram.com/books/search....

There is no comprehensive guide to Mathematica since the 2005 Mathematica Book for version 5. There is online documentation.

Plot spiral:

ParametricPlot [{Theta Cos[Theta], Theta Sin[Theta]}, {Theta, 0, 2 Pi}]

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=...
p. 20
(A different spiral: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )

To evaluate all cells in a notebook file in sequence:
From the menu:
Kernel > Evaluation > Evaluate Notebook
p. 30.

Simplify

Sum[x^n, {n, 0, 10}] - (1 - x^(11))/(1 - x)

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=...
p. 45

Clear all definitions:

Clear[Global`*]

p. 50

Stirling's formula

Plot Log[n!] and (n + 1/2)Log[n] - n + Log[Sqrt[2 Pi]], n = 1 to 3

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=...
p. 51

Second derivative:

D[Sin[x], {x, 2}]

denotes
d^2/dx^2(sin(x)) = -sin(x)
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=...
p. 60

Differential equations

DSolve[x''[t] + x[t] == 0, x[t], t]

x(t) = c_2 sin(t) + c_1 cos(t)
https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=...
p. 62

Procedural Programming
"

Do

and

While

can be useful. The

For

loop is a concession to C programmers; it often leads to badly structured programs."
p. 179

[Atilla Ozgur · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an old book about Mathematica. It covers Mathematica 4 while newest version in 2020 is Mathematica 12.
Nonetheless, it is a good introduction book for Mathematica.