Mathematica’s definitely the better option in terms of usability (for beginners, it’s got a fantastically shallow learning curve), consistency and sensibleness of syntax although we do, of course, respect the fact that some of you are committed to using FOSS only. Have you ever actually compared Mathematica and SAGE, putting aside the FOSS argument for a moment? The two are not actually particularly alike – I don’t think I’d call SAGE an “alternative”, but it is a FOSS *option* for those wanting to do symbolic computation – and, of course, Mathematica’s usual pricing structure has pushed a lot of people in SAGE’s direction.

As Conrad Wolfram said today: “Coders will be able to use the power of Mathematica’s maths out of the box, not only enriching what they can do but also showing off the power and importance of maths.” We believe this will make the Pi a first-class platform for teaching CBM techniques to children of all ages. Today, at the CBM education summit in New York, we announced a partnership with Wolfram Research to bundle a free copy of Mathematica and the Wolfram Language into future Raspbian images. We’re building a completely new math curriculum with computer-based computation at its heart, while campaigning at all levels to redefine math education away from historical hand-calculating techniques and toward real-life problem-solving situations that drive high-concept math understanding and experience. Real-life math has been transformed by computer-based calculation now mainstream math education needs this fundamental change too.Ĭ is the project to perform this reset. Meanwhile, math education is in worldwide crisis-diverging more and more from what’s required by countries, industry, further education… and students.Ĭomputers are key to bridging this chasm: only when they do the calculating is math applicable to hard questions across many contexts. The importance of math to jobs, society, and thinking has exploded over the last few decades.

One great example is the computer-based math(s) (CBM) movement, which aims to redefine the teaching of mathematics in schools away from mechanical calculation and towards problem solving. One of the best things about working on Raspberry Pi has been the opportunity to meet groups of people who are trying to bring about the same sort of change in the teaching of other subjects that we’re aiming for in computing.

Mathematica for raspberry pi