Re: [Edu-sig] Math in a Browser
On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:02 AM, Laura Creighton l...@openend.se wrote: Somebody wants something 'like matlab' but which is browser based and all runs in a browser. I know about http://www.livemath.com/lmplugin/ What else is out there? I've never really tried any of the following, but I understand they may have some similar features: 1. Sage http://sagemath.org/ This might be overkill and a bit too complex 2. Weblab http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/users/santoso/Software.WebLab.html Still in alpha version 3. Sympy http://code.google.com/p/sympy/ Might use pyglet (hence not browser based) for graphics ?... André Laura ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
Re: [Edu-sig] Math in a Browser
SAGE is awesome. I highly recommend it. Recently I've been looking at it more intently with the idea of using in math classes. For the last few weeks I've been working very hard on getting a new math class officially recognized for next year, and I got the green light! So, next year we will officially be offering a computational math analysis course! I'm thrilled. It will be the traditional analysis curriculum using a computational language. So I've recently been examining SAGE with this new course in mind. I think something like SAGE would be even better for an Analysis type course than straight Python. You can very easily do all kinds of graphing. It has all the functionality of any Computer Algebra System you could name, but you can also program ideas from scratch. You can use SAGE either with or without a browser, but through the browser is a lot more practical. It lets you very easily create and maintain worksheets. Yeah, it is a bit hefty. A massive download. But well worth the cost! : ) SymPy is also great. I've looked at it a bit. SAGE actually includes SymPy as part of its machinery. On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 3:13 AM, Andre Roberge andre.robe...@gmail.comwrote: On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 2:02 AM, Laura Creighton l...@openend.se wrote: Somebody wants something 'like matlab' but which is browser based and all runs in a browser. I know about http://www.livemath.com/lmplugin/ What else is out there? I've never really tried any of the following, but I understand they may have some similar features: 1. Sage http://sagemath.org/ This might be overkill and a bit too complex 2. Weblab http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/users/santoso/Software.WebLab.html Still in alpha version 3. Sympy http://code.google.com/p/sympy/ Might use pyglet (hence not browser based) for graphics ?... André Laura ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
Re: [Edu-sig] Math in a Browser
On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 8:20 AM, michel paul mpaul...@gmail.com wrote: SAGE is awesome. I highly recommend it. Recently I've been looking at it more intently with the idea of using in math classes. We've been hoping to get the Sage folks from Seattle to present at PPUG Portland. One reason I encourage core Python for more elementary courses is I'm wanting to open a window into the language itself, not an application written in that language. Staying close to the metal sounds funny in this context, given it's a VHLL. That being said, Sage encourages writing in core Python, then working the API for graphics. I recommend creating a free user account and testing it over the web by pulling up some already published activities e.g.: v2 of three famous plots of chaos http://www.sagenb.org/home/pub/20/ In terms of selling your department on the relevance of Python to math learning, I think Sage is a significant asset, something to show and tell about. Here's all you need to plot a Mandelbrot set: #Mandelbrot set: the final plot is a subset of the complex plane; #the color at point c is porportional to the number of iterations that #the discrete dynamical system z-z^2+c takes to leave a circle around #the origin when z0=0 N=int(200)#resolution of the plot L=int(50)#limits the number of iterations x0=float(-2); x1=float(1); y0=float(-1.5); y1=float(1.5) #boundary of the region plotted R=float(3)#stop after leaving the circle of radius R zero = int(0) m=matrix(N,N) for i in range(N): for k in range(N): c=complex(x0+i*(x1-x0)/N, y0+k*(y1-y0)/N) z=zero h=zero while (hL) and (abs(z)R): z=z*z+c h+=1 m[i,k]=h matrix_plot(m, cmap='hsv') That's a lot shorter than my implementation with PIL: http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/fractals.html http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/lorentz.html There's also Lorentz Attractor and Feigenbaum diagram, woo hoo! Kirby ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
Re: [Edu-sig] Math in a Browser
have you tried DragMath ? http://www.dragmath.bham.ac.uk/demo.html http://docs.moodle.org/en/DragMath_equation_editor http://sourceforge.net/projects/dragmath/ On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 6:55 PM, kirby urner kirby.ur...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 8:20 AM, michel paul mpaul...@gmail.com wrote: SAGE is awesome. I highly recommend it. Recently I've been looking at it more intently with the idea of using in math classes. We've been hoping to get the Sage folks from Seattle to present at PPUG Portland. One reason I encourage core Python for more elementary courses is I'm wanting to open a window into the language itself, not an application written in that language. Staying close to the metal sounds funny in this context, given it's a VHLL. That being said, Sage encourages writing in core Python, then working the API for graphics. I recommend creating a free user account and testing it over the web by pulling up some already published activities e.g.: v2 of three famous plots of chaos http://www.sagenb.org/home/pub/20/ In terms of selling your department on the relevance of Python to math learning, I think Sage is a significant asset, something to show and tell about. Here's all you need to plot a Mandelbrot set: #Mandelbrot set: the final plot is a subset of the complex plane; #the color at point c is porportional to the number of iterations that #the discrete dynamical system z-z^2+c takes to leave a circle around #the origin when z0=0 N=int(200) #resolution of the plot L=int(50) #limits the number of iterations x0=float(-2); x1=float(1); y0=float(-1.5); y1=float(1.5) #boundary of the region plotted R=float(3) #stop after leaving the circle of radius R zero = int(0) m=matrix(N,N) for i in range(N): for k in range(N): c=complex(x0+i*(x1-x0)/N, y0+k*(y1-y0)/N) z=zero h=zero while (hL) and (abs(z)R): z=z*z+c h+=1 m[i,k]=h matrix_plot(m, cmap='hsv') That's a lot shorter than my implementation with PIL: http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/fractals.html http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/lorentz.html There's also Lorentz Attractor and Feigenbaum diagram, woo hoo! Kirby ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig -- Jurgis Pralgauskis tel: 8-616 77613; jabber: jur...@akl.lt; skype: dz0rdzas; Don't worry, be happy and make things better ;) http://sagemath.visiems.lt ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
Re: [Edu-sig] Math in a Browser
On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 8:55 AM, kirby urner kirby.ur...@gmail.com wrote: One reason I encourage core Python for more elementary courses is I'm wanting to open a window into the language itself, not an application written in that language. And even in a course utilizing SAGE, I'd initially focus on pure Python. A student is going to be able to use SAGE a whole lot more effectively if they first have a good Pythonic background. So even though SAGE provides all kinds of amazing functionality, we'd still want the kids to be able to compose some of that functionality on their own from scratch. Same thing even with Python's various math libraries. All kinds of great tools ready to go, but sometimes in education we actually do want to re-invent the wheel! Like building your own radio. For example, there's a square root function in there. But in a computational math class, let's talk about how you can find the square root of a number by dividing and averaging - Newton's method. Once you set up this process, how many times do you need to iterate through it? If you test for pure equality, you're going to hang, so you need to define how close is 'close enough'. Lots of good math and programming discussion there. I realized awhile ago that the tension between using calculators in the classroom vs. using a programming language is more broadly framed as CAS vs. CTL: Computer Algebra System vs. Computational Thinking Language. SAGE completely synthesizes the two. If you need some powerful CAS tools, great. You've got whatever you need! Or, if you want to model and test your own ideas, great! You've got the ease of Python right there. That being said, Sage encourages writing in core Python, then working the API for graphics. Exactly. In terms of selling your department on the relevance of Python to math learning, I think Sage is a significant asset, something to show and tell about. Precisely what's been happening! Just a week ago I prepared something for the math and science departments showing them what kinds of tools are available for students who've learned a little Python. They were pretty impressed with the ease of the 3d graphics. Built in Platonic solids? How cool! - Michel ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
Re: [Edu-sig] Math in a Browser
Somebody wants something 'like matlab' but which is browser based and all runs in a browser. I know about http://www.livemath.com/lmplugin/ What else is out there? Laura ___ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
