So I've been entertaining the thought of purchasing Mathematica for students for some time now and I just recently downloaded the 30 day trial. I would like to know more about people's expereince with the software before I buy it but all the things I can dig up are about people doing some major stuff with it like designing plates for spines and making advanced quantum models. I could not find any review of someone who used it in a way similair to how I would use it so I came here to ask for opinions.
I am a student of physics, trying to get into a mathematical physics degree with hopes of going to grad school for a PhD. This year I will be entering Honours Calculus, a course about differential equations, a second year algebra course, E&M, mechanics, Modern and computational physics. In year beyond this one I'll be in more calculus and physics courses including some labs. I also have a background in programing and I am finishing up a first year algebra course.
The software is about $150 CND and I get to use it as long as I can prove I am a student. Money isn't much of a problem so it comes down to wether or not I can make it worth that much. So if any of you have used it and could share insight or give opinions it would be appreciated.
Why Mathmatica and not Mathcad? It seems like in the engineering world at least MathCad is much more widely used. Really though learning the programming of both and things of that nature will greatly help you later on. I don't remember the real differences between the two so I am sure there is a reason.
If you're willing to pay the fees for your own personal interest then sure, but your school(s?) will have the necessary software for computational physics. Brush up on the programming too; the level of rigor is pretty massive if you're actually going to be modeling things.
Your school may actually have you using the program for free.
Last edited by Badpaladin; 2012-06-25 at 04:53 AM.
I used Mathematica a lot during my high school studies. The way of maths being studied varies in most countries, but in Finland it was very helpful to study for the matriculation exams by looking at the correct answers for physics and maths via the software.
Bear in mind, they have a free online version also.
As others have said already, your school should have some kind of computer algebra software, like Maple (which I'm using myself at the moment), MathCad or Mathematica (I'm sure there are other solutions, those were the ones I could think of).
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