Maple

How to Use This Handbook The Maple Handbook is a complete reference tool for the Maple lan­ guage, and is written for all Maple users, regardless of their discipline or field(s) of interest. All the built-in mathematical, graphic, and system­ based commands available in Maple V Release 4 are detailed herein. Please note that The Maple Handbook does not teach the mathematics behind Maple commands. If you do not know the meaning of such concepts as definite integral, identity matrix, or prime integer, do not expect to learn them here. As well, while the introductory sections to each chapter taken together provide a basic overview of the capabil­ ities of Maple, it is highly recommended that you also read a more thorough tutorial such as Introduction to Maple by Andre Heck, or one of standard manuals shipped with Maple V Release 4. Overall Organization One of the main premises of The Maple Handbook is that most Maple users approach the system to solve a particular problem (or set of prob­ lems) in a specific subject area. Therefore, all commands are organized in logical subsets that reflect these different categories, e.g., calculus, algebra, data manipulation, etc.; the commands within a subset are ex­ plained in a similar language, creating a tool that allows you quick and confident access to the information necessary to complete the problem you have brought to the system.

How to Use This Handbook The Maple Handbook is a complete reference tool for the Maple lan­ guage, and is written for all Maple users, regardless of their discipline or field(s) of interest. All the built-in mathematical, graphic, and system­ based commands available in Maple V Release 4 are detailed herein. Please note that The Maple Handbook does not teach the mathematics behind Maple commands. If you do not know the meaning of such concepts as definite integral, identity matrix, or prime integer, do not expect to learn them here. As well, while the introductory sections to each chapter taken together provide a basic overview of the capabil­ ities of Maple, it is highly recommended that you also read a more thorough tutorial such as Introduction to Maple by Andre Heck, or one of standard manuals shipped with Maple V Release 4. Overall Organization One of the main premises of The Maple Handbook is that most Maple users approach the system to solve a particular problem (or set of prob­ lems) in a specific subject area. Therefore, all commands are organized in logical subsets that reflect these different categories, e.g., calculus, algebra, data manipulation, etc.; the commands within a subset are ex­ plained in a similar language, creating a tool that allows you quick and confident access to the information necessary to complete the problem you have brought to the system.

How to Use This Handbook The Maple Handbook is a complete reference tool for the Maple language, and is written for all Maple users, regardless of their dis­ cipline or field(s) of interest. All the built-in mathematical, graphic, and system-based commands available in Maple V Release 2 are detailed herein. Please note that The Maple Handbook does not teach about the mathematics behind Maple commands. If you do not know the meaning of such concepts as definite integral, identity matrix, or prime integer, do not expect to learn them here. As well, while the introductory sections to each chapter taken together do provide a basic overview of the capabilities of Maple, it is highly recom­ mended that you also read a more thorough tutorial such as In­ troduction to Maple by Andre Heck or First Leaves: A Tutorial Introduction to Maple. Overall Organization One of the main premises of The Maple Handbook is that most Maple users approach the system to solve a particular problem (or set of problems) in a specific subject area.

How to Use This Handbook The Maple Handbook is a complete reference tool for the Maple language, and is written for all Maple users, regardless of their dis­ cipline or field(s) of interest. All the built-in mathematical, graphic, and system-based commands available in Maple V Release 2 are detailed herein. Please note that The Maple Handbook does not teach about the mathematics behind Maple commands. If you do not know the meaning of such concepts as definite integral, identity matrix, or prime integer, do not expect to learn them here. As well, while the introductory sections to each chapter taken together do provide a basic overview of the capabilities of Maple, it is highly recom­ mended that you also read a more thorough tutorial such as In­ troduction to Maple by Andre Heck or First Leaves: A Tutorial Introduction to Maple. Overall Organization One of the main premises of The Maple Handbook is that most Maple users approach the system to solve a particular problem (or set of problems) in a specific subject area.

What's in this book This book contains an accelerated introduction to Maple, a computer alge­ bra language. It is intended for scientific programmers who have experience with other computer languages such as C, FORTRAN, or Pascal. If you wish a longer and more leisurely introduction to Maple, see (8, 27, 39). This book is also intended as a reference summary for people who use Maple infrequently enough so that they forget key commands. Chapter 4 is a keyword summary. This will be useful if you have forgotten the exact Maple command for what you want. This chapter is best accessed through the table of contents, since it is organized by subject matter. The mathematical prerequisites are calculus, linear algebra, and some differential equations. A course in numerical analysis will also help. Any extra mathematics needed will be developed in the book. This book was prepared using Maple V Release 3, although most of the examples will work with, at most, only slight modification in Maple V Release 2. This book does not require any particular hardware. The systems I have used in developing the book are machines running IBM DOS and WIN/OS2, Unix machines in an ASCII terminal mode, and x­ windows systems. There should be no adjustments necessary for readers equipped with Macintoshes or other hardware. Maple is an evolving system. New features will be described in the documentation for updates (?updates in Maple).

Buch und CD-ROM ermöglichen es, ohne Vorkenntnisse das Computeralgebra-System MAPLE zu nutzen, um elementare mathematische Probleme am Computer zu lösen. Sie liefern einen schnellen Zugriff auf die Lösung mit der Beschreibung der zugehörigen MAPLE-Befehle. Besondere Vorteile: Alle Probleme werden exemplarisch behandelt.

"The text treats a remarkable spectrum of topics and has a little for everyone. It can serve as an introduction to many of the topics of dynamical systems, and will help even the most jaded reader, such as this reviewer, enjoy some of the interactive aspects of studying dynamics using Maple."

Modern software tools like Maple have the potential to alter radically the way mathematics is taught, learned, and done. Bringing such tools into the classroom during lectures, assignments, and examinations means that new ways oflooking at mathematics can becomepermanent fixtures ofthe curriculum. It is universal access that will make a software-based approach to mathematics become the norm. In 1988, with NSF funding under an III grant, I had the opportunity to bring Maple into the calculus classroom at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.