Contents of this CD-ROM

This CD-ROM contains all information from the two volumes of The Mathematica Programmer that is best accessed electronically. Most information is arranged by chapter of either Volume 1 or Volume 2.

The main entry point is the table of contents, accessible from the top or index document. It contains an anchor for each chapter and other parts of the books.

There is also some information not directly related to a particular chapter. It can be accessed from the top or index document.

Internet Updates Another important part of each page is the link to The Mathematica Programmer WWW Archive at the bottom of each page. This archive may contain updated information. If I find and correct a bug in one of the programs, for example, I will put the updated program into this archive. You can then download it from there and update your local copy on your hard disk.

The Chapter Contents Pages

All chapter contents pages (for example, this one) contain the following information:

The chapter opener picture

This image is taken from the title page of the chapter.

Overview

This is the abstract of the chapter. It is taken from the text on the page following the chapter title.

Programs

An annotated list of all programs mentioned in the chapter. The programs are anchors that let you read the program text.

The programs are in the MathProg directory, which is also accessed by Mathematica if you want to load the programs. See the installation instructions for details.

Notebooks

An annotated list of all notebooks relating to the chapter. Often, there is just one notebook that contains many of the calculations reproduced in the chapter. The names are anchors that let you start up Mathematica and load the notebook. You can then review (and modify!) the calculations.

This feature works only of two conditions are satisfied:

Your browser must be configured to start Mathematica when an anchor points to a notebook.
You must have installed the programs on this CD-ROM such that Mathematica can find them.

The notebooks are in the Notebook directory. They can be opened directly with Mathematica or MathReader, outside of your html browser.

Color Plates

An annotated list (with thumbnail images) of all color images pertaining to this chapter. The anchors let you view the pictures and their captions at a higher resolution.

Additional Material

This section may contain additional material not present in the book.

Resources on the Internet

A list of anchors pointing to resources on the Internet that are related to the topic of the chapter (requires Internet access).