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When thinking about re-learning math I always think of doing it through some Computer Algebra System. It seems to me like a way better way to learn math, allowing me to tinker with things and treat subjects as black boxes (what's the ouput of X process if I change the input to Y?) as opposed to just try to understand the static examples presented on paper.

The problem is the embarrassment of riches [1].

Compounding the problem is the awful marketing some of this products have for casual and hobby learners. At this point, I'm willing to spend a few hundred dollars for a personal edition of a product like Wolfram's Mathematica, Matlab or Maple, but I'm not sure what would be the best investment for my time and money.

Could you recommended any courses or books using a CAS to teach math concepts and applications?

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_algebra_syste...



I’ve dabbled enough with SymPy to recommend it. Jupyter + SymPy (+ the rest of SciPy) gets you a pretty long ways toward one of the M programs. Here’s a book: https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/HumbleBundle/doingmathwithpy...

Opinion: There’d be a lot more people interested in math if it were taught with greater emphasis on visualization, experimentation, and self-verification (i.e. via CAS/programming).

Speaking for myself, it vastly enhances the value of my “pen and paper” and “stare at book” math time (the old fashioned way—also valuable and necessary, but [for me] not sufficient, for deep understanding).


does sympy really do alegbra (like magma) or just standard linear algebra and polynomial type stuff


Not sure what you’re looking for in particular, but SymPy definitely goes beyond the basics. Here’s a list of the modules:

https://docs.sympy.org/latest/modules/index.html





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