Part 1

This Part gives a self-contained introduction to Mathematica, concentrating on using Mathematica as an interactive problem-solving system.

When you have read this Part, you should have sufficient knowledge of Mathematica to tackle many kinds of practical problems.

You should realize, however, that what is discussed in this Part is in many respects just the surface of Mathematica. Underlying all the various features and capabilities that are discussed, there are powerful and general principles. These principles are discussed in Part 2. To get the most out of Mathematica, you will need to understand them.

This Part does not assume that you have used a computer before. In addition, most of the material in it requires no knowledge of mathematics beyond high-school level. The more advanced mathematical aspects of Mathematica are discussed in Part 3 of this book.