Editing MATHEMATICA (section)

=== DESCRIPTION ===

''Mathematica'' is the world's only fully integrated environment for technical computing. First released in 1988, it has had a profound effect on the way computers are used in many technical and other fields.

It is often said that the release of ''Mathematica'' marked the beginning of modern technical computing. Ever since the 1960s individual packages had existed for specific numerical, algebraic, graphical and other tasks. But the visionary concept of Mathematica was to create once and for all a single system that could handle all the various aspects of technical computing in a coherent and unified way. The key intellectual advance that made this possible was the invention of a new kind of symbolic computer language that could for the first time manipulate the very wide range of objects involved in technical computing using only a fairly small number of basic primitives.

When ''Mathematica'' Version 1 was released, the New York Times wrote that "the importance of the program cannot be overlooked", and Business Week later ranked ''Mathematica'' among the ten most important new products of the year. ''Mathematica'' was also hailed in the technical community as a major intellectual and practical revolution. 

The diversity of ''Mathematica'''s user base is striking. It spans all continents, ages from below ten up, and includes for example artists, composers, linguists and lawyers. There are also many hobbyists from all walks of life who use ''Mathematica'' to further their interests in science, mathematics and computing. 

At a technical level, ''Mathematica'' is widely regarded as a major feat of software engineering. It is one of the largest single application programs ever developed, and it contains a vast array of novel algorithms and important technical innovations. Among its core innovations are its interconnected algorithm knowledge base, and its concepts of symbolic programming and of document-centered interfaces.

The development of ''Mathematica'' has been carried out at Wolfram Research by a world-class team led by Stephen Wolfram. The success of ''Mathematica'' has fueled the continuing growth of Wolfram Research, and has allowed a large community of independent ''Mathematica''-related businesses to develop. There are today well over a hundred specialized commercial packages available for ''Mathematica'', as well as more than three hundred books devoted to the system.