September 2011 - Page 7 of 11 - Math and Multimedia

Calculize – an online scripting language for math enthusiasts

September 13, 2011 GB Teaching Tools, Web 2.0 Technology

Recently, I discovered Calculize (via Math Future) — an online scripting website designed for mathematical and statistical computations. I have not explored the language yet, but I think it is very interesting and quite easy to learn.

You can run Calculize on your browser and there is no need for installation. That means that you can access your scripts anywhere or share them on the web. In addition, you can also run your script and see the output in the same window (see figure above).

For those who want to explore the language, there is a tutorial in the Calculize’s website and the documentation also contains the syntax and examples of all commands.

Leave a comment calculize, math programming, programming language, scripting language

Undefined terms: What are they?

September 12, 2011 GB High School Geometry, Questions and Quandaries

Recall that we have discussed about the meaning of “undefined” in different contexts. In this post we are going to discuss the meaning of undefined terms. What do we really mean when we say undefined terms in mathematics?

Polygons (via Wikipedia)

The time we started to learn mathematics, we also started to learn its vocabulary. We have learned about the definitions of terms such as triangles, fractions, polynomials, axioms, etc. In our years of studies, we also have acquired the skill of being concise and precise in what we say or write. Like in other fields of endeavors, we need to understand each other and make sure that we mean the same thing when we say a particular word. That is why we need to define them. For example, when we say p0lygon (see figure above), we mean (loosely) that it is a plane figure bounded by a finite number of line segments. Notice that from the definition itself, we must also define the other terms used. What do we mean by plane figure or line segment? » Read more