Review of Mathematica 4.1

Release 4.1 is the latest version of the mathematical software package Mathematica, published by Wolfram Research. At the high end of the market, it competes directly with Maple 6, as an integrated computer algebra system (CAS), and with Matlab 6, in respect of numerical capabilities. Many readers will already know that the other powerful and highly regarded CAS, Macsyma, is no longer commercially available. Earlier versions of Mathematica were reviewed by Daniel Moore and myself. Much has also been written in these quarterly newsletters, over the last decade, about imaginative uses of Mathematica and of related materials in the teaching of mathematics to university and college students. Mathematica is firmly established as a versatile teaching tool in many educational establishments throughout the world, in addition to the extensive use that is made of it in research and development both in universities and industry/business…