WebMath: New Mathwright Library and Cafe

Paul Topping PaulT at dessci.com
Thu Feb 1 20:25:24 EST 2001 

I got your email and tried this out TODAY. The problems I was reporting are
with stuff on your site NOW, not old versions. Yes, I realize you can change
the install directory but its default should not be at the root of the hard
drive. No commercial-grade software worth its salt does this as it violates
Microsoft's install guidelines. Also, I did get 2 entries on my Start menu.

I'm not really complaining, but I thought you might want to fix your s/w.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: James White [mailto:mathwrig at gte.net]
> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 4:07 PM
> To: webmath at camel.math.ca
> Subject: RE: WebMath: New Mathwright Library and Cafe
> 
> 
> Dear Paul,
> 
> 	Please take a look at the New Library.  The new 
> installer lets you choose
> any installation directory or drive you want, and will not 
> create multiple
> directories.  In fact, many of the aging features at the 
> previous site have
> been replaced.  As far as applets are concerned, we have 
> developed a Java 2
> (Swing) Applet version of Mathwright called Lava.  It is available for
> viewing at the site.  You won't find many applets out there 
> that do the
> sprite animated simulations that Mathwright does.  For 
> example, let me know
> if you find one that plays 4x4x4 Tic-Tac-Toe using OpenGL 
> graphics and a
> game board that you can rotate, translate and fly through in 
> real-time using
> 16 million colors.  My point is that applets, even Lava, are 
> limited for
> rather obvious reasons.  There is nothing like an application 
> running on the
> user machine for real-time simulations or sophisticated 
> computer algebra.
> 
> 								
> 					Jim
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-webmath at camel.math.ca 
> [mailto:owner-webmath at camel.math.ca]On
> Behalf Of Paul Topping
> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 2:47 PM
> To: 'webmath at camel.math.ca'
> Subject: RE: WebMath: New Mathwright Library and Cafe
> 
> 
> Interesting, but your installer needs much work:
> 
> - It wants to install stuff directly at the root of my hard 
> drive. Instead
> it should be in Program Files.
> 
> - It created multiple "Mathwright Library" entries in my Start menu.
> 
> I've seen Java-based "mathlets" that seem to do pretty much 
> the same job
> with much less installing and mucking around. Why all the 
> extra machinery?
> 
> Paul
> >  -----Original Message-----
> > From: 	James White [mailto:mathwrig at gte.net]
> > Sent:	Thursday, February 01, 2001 1:25 PM
> > To:	webmath at camel.math.ca
> > Subject:	WebMath: New Mathwright Library and Cafe
> >
> > Dear colleagues,
> >
> > 	Please accept our invitation to visit and celebrate the 
> gala opening
> > of the New Mathwright Library and Cafe.  The URL is
> > http://www.mathwright.com.  Since the Mathwright Library 
> appeared on the
> > web in early 1995, we enjoy the dubious distinction of 
> being one of the
> > first mathematics digital libraries.  And we quickly became 
> something of
> > an "historical monument" or an antique in light of our 
> early arrival to
> > the internet.  The New Library and Cafe, however,  is a 
> state-of-the-art
> > virtual place that puts the best features of the new web 
> technologies at
> > the disposal of our readers.
> > 	In fact, the paradigm that we implement is simple, but may be
> > unfamiliar.  Our readers come to the Library and 'register' 
> by downloading
> > the Mathwright Library Player to their own machines.  This 
> Player is a
> > full-featured computer algebra and graphics environment 
> that supports and
> > operates the WorkBooks on their machines. Then they browse 
> the Stacks (70
> > rooms of WorkBooks)  in a variety of ways to find 
> interactive WorkBooks
> > that they would like to explore.  They download these 
> WorkBooks to their
> > own machines, each building her "own" Mathwright Library 
> that she can read
> > at her leisure, whether on the web or not.  This gives the 
> readers time to
> > explore in directions they choose, and to indulge their 
> free-form and
> > gratuitous curiosity, and to 'play' with new ideas.  
> According to Piaget,
> > 'play' is the most powerful source of new and enduring knowledge.
> > 	The WorkBooks themselves range in size from 1 to 38 
> pages (averaging
> > about 6 pages) and they have the look and feel of web pages 
> -- web pages
> > with a degree in mathematics. So they have no problem calculating,
> > simplifying, and displaying mathematical expressions in a form that
> > students can understand, or doing interactive (not canned) sprite
> > animations, 3D graphics, and simulations while solving differential
> > equations in the background in real-time. And they do exact 
> arithmetic and
> > algebra when that is critical to the story.  In fact, many of our
> > WorkBooks are written as stories.
> > 	From its inception,  the Library has distinguished 
> itself in several
> > ways from the mathematics resources generally available on 
> the web. The
> > Library has always been a 'constructivist' site in the 
> Piagetian sense,
> > built on the premise that students understand the answers 
> to the questions
> > they themselves ask, better than they understand the answers to the
> > questions that we, or textbooks, ask (then answer) for 
> them.  Our Library
> > WorkBooks are designed to elicit questions from reader, and then to
> > provide answers to their questions.  And they are all written by
> > mathematics teachers themselves (at the secondary and undergraduate
> > level), rather than by software engineers or undergraduate computer
> > science students.  (Actually, a few were designed and 
> written by my own
> > mathematics students).
> > 	The Library is also a 'reform' site in the Tulane 
> sense.  Many of
> > our WorkBooks and course sequences are designed to 
> encourage independent
> > and collaborative thinking, and to discourage formulaic 
> thinking or rote
> > memorization.
> >
> > 	Rather than go on, I'll stop haranguing you. I invite 
> you to stop
> > by, and see what we're up to.
> >
> > James E. White, Ph.D.
> > "The Heart has its reasons that Reason can never know"
> > - Pascal's motto
> >
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