This HTML document is based on Mathematica Graphics: An Intensive Tutorial by Tom Wickham-Jones. It was adapted by Martin Kraus for non-commercial use.
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Chapter 1 |
Introduction |
1.1 Introduction to Mathematica |
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1.2 More Information on Mathematica |
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Mathematica is a computer system which integrates symbolic and numerical mathematics with powerful computer graphics. These are supported by a concise and flexible programming language. This first chapter consists of a brief description of Mathematica as a system and how to use it. |
Before we start to look at Matheamtica graphics we should first review some basic Mathematica concepts.
Mathematica can be split into two parts: the kernel, which actually performs computations, and the front end, which handles interactions with the user. The kernel contains the same functionality on all the computers that run Mathematica. The front end, on the other hand, is optimized for particular computers and is concerned with system-specific tasks such as on-line editing, graphical display and printing. On many computers, the front end for Mathematica supports sophisticated interactive documents called Notebooks. These consist of an interactive mixture of computations, text and graphics. However the same input commands work on all versions to produce equivalent results.
When you start up a Mathematica kernel you see an input prompt In[num]:=, where num is a positive integer. Your documentation will tell you how to do this, the actual operations may vary from one system to another. With an input prompt you may enter something and ask Mathematica to evaluate it. This is how Mathematica works, you give it input, this is evaluated and the result is returned. We shall now examine a sample session. Enter the text which follow the input prompt.
| In[num] | Mathematica is waiting for an input |
| Out[num] | the result from Mathematica |
| This arithmetic operation evaluates to a result different from the input expression. | In[1]:= 2 + 5 Out[1]= 7 |
| There are many built-in mathematical functions. | In[2]:= Sin[Sqrt[10.5]] Out[2]= -0.0986171 |
| The ? is a simple and quick way to get help on a function. | In[3]:= ?Sin Out[3]= Sin[z] gives the sine of z. |
| The result is a rational number which can not simplify further. | In[4]:= 100 50/89 Out[4]= 5000/89 |
| N converts its argument to a real number. The % means the previous result. | In[5]:= N[%] Out[5]= 56.1798 |
| You can also refer to a result further back by using the number from Out. | In[6]:= N[%1]^2 Out[6]= 49. |
We have now looked at various forms of arithmetic. The main type of input we have seen is for numbers. Mathematica can of course do much more.
| Numbers |
| Symbols |
| Strings |
| Compound expressions |
| Assign the number 42 to the symbol a. | In[7]:= a = 42 Out[7]= 42 |
| The symbol a evaluates as it was set in the previous input. | In[8]:= a Out[8]= 42 |
| A string is put inside double quotes "". | In[9]:= "This is a string" Out[9]= This is a string |
| InputForm shows what we would have to enter into Mathematica to get the same result. | In[10]:= InputForm[%] Out[10]//InputForm= "This is a string" |
| This is a List. It is a fundamental way to hold a group of objects. | In[11]:= expr = {a, b, c, d} Out[11]= {42, b, c, d} |
| This command Table is another way to generate a List. Here i is set to go from 1 to 5 in steps of 1. | In[12]:= Table[{i, i^2, i^3}, {i, 5}] Out[12]= {{1, 1, 1}, {2, 4, 8}, {3, 9, 27}, {4, 16, 64}, {5, 25, 125}} |
| FullForm shows how Mathematica actually stores expr. | In[13]:= FullForm[expr] Out[13]//FullForm= List[42, b, c, d] |
| The FullForm of expr is List. The Head of an expression is a way to label it. | In[14]:= Head[expr] Out[14]//FullForm= List |
| The number of arguments of an expression is given by the Length function. | In[15]:= Length[expr] Out[15]= 4 |
| Part returns that component of an expression. | In[16]:= Part[expr, 3] Out[16]= c |
| This is identical to the previous input. This is an abbreviated way to refer to Part. A number of Mathematica commands have similar abbreviations. | In[17]:= expr[[3]] Out[17]= c |
Many Mathematica commands can be altered by the use of options. All of the graphics commands have a number of options which alter the way they behave. To see the options which are available for a Mathematica command one can use Options.
| This shows the options for Plot3D. | In[18]:= Options[Plot3D] Out[18]= {AmbientLight -> GrayLevel[0], AspectRatio -> Automatic, Axes -> True, AxesEdge -> Automatic, AxesLabel -> None, AxesStyle -> Automatic, Background -> Automatic, Boxed -> True, BoxRatios -> {1, 1, 0.4}, BoxStyle -> Automatic, ClipFill -> Automatic, ColorFunction -> Automatic, ColorOutput -> Automatic, Compiled -> True, DefaultColor -> Automatic, Epilog -> {}, FaceGrids -> None, HiddenSurface -> True, ImageSize -> Automatic, Lighting -> True, LightSources -> {{{1., 0., 1.}, RGBColor[1, 0, 0]}, {{1., 1., 1.}, RGBColor[0, 1, 0]}, {{0., 1., 1.}, RGBColor[0, 0, 1]}}, Mesh -> True, MeshStyle -> Automatic, Plot3Matrix -> Automatic, PlotLabel -> None, PlotPoints -> 15, PlotRange -> Automatic, PlotRegion -> Automatic, Prolog -> {}, Shading -> True, SphericalRegion -> False, Ticks -> Automatic, ViewCenter -> Automatic, ViewPoint -> {1.3, -2.4, 2.}, ViewVertical -> {0., 0., 1.}, DefaultFont :> $DefaultFont, DisplayFunction :> $DisplayFunction, FormatType :> $FormatType, TextStyle :> $TextStyle} |
| If there are no options an empty list is returned. | In[19]:= Options[Table] Out[19]= {} |
| This shows the default setting for an option. | In[20]:= Options[Plot3D, Boxed] Out[20]= {Boxed -> True} |
| This changes the option Boxed for Plot. The actual meaning of these options is discussed later. | In[21]:= Plot3D[x^2 + y^2, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1}, Boxed -> False] |
| Out[21]= - SurfaceGraphics - |
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| This changes the default value for an option. The semicolon at the end of the input line suppresses the printing of the result. | In[22]:= SetOptions[Plot3D, Boxed -> False]; |
| The default setting has now changed. | In[23]:= Options[Plot3D, Boxed] Out[23]= {Boxed -> False} |
| We should change the default back. | In[24]:= SetOptions[Plot3D, Boxed -> True]; |
Mathematica runs on many different types of computers. These computers have a number of differences in the way in which they refer to and manipulate files. Mathematica provides commands to work with files in a way that is the same for every computer on which it runs.
| This shows the files which end with the letters dat. | In[25]:= FileNames["*dat"] Out[25]= {file.dat, file1.dat} |
| This shows the contents of the file file.dat. If this does not work probably the file does not exist on your system. Use a text editor to make it and insert these numbers. Then try again. |
In[26]:= !!file.dat 1 1 2 8 3 27 4 64 5 125 6 216 7 343 8 512 |
| This will reenter input line 20. | In[27]:= In[20] Out[27]= {Boxed -> True} |
| This retrieves output 20. | In[28]:= %20 Out[28]= {Boxed -> True} |
| This is an equivalent way to retrieve output. | In[29]:= Out[20] Out[29]= {Boxed -> True} |
If you wish to learn more about using Mathematica you should read one of the many publications and tutorials to the system which are available. Wolfram Research maintains a list of such publications which is available on request. In addition Wolfram Research publishes a number of documents such as collections of notes from Mathematica conferences. These cover a wide variety of topics from the general introductory to the most complex aspects of the system.
The standard reference is the book Mathematica: A System for Doing Mathematics by Computer, Third Edition, by Stephen Wolfram, which I shall refer to as the The Mathematica Book. A on-line version of it is distributed with every copy of the software and it is also available in many technical bookstores. The Mathematica Book contains a reference guide which lists in alphabetical order every symbol defined by the system such as commands and options. In the reference guide each of these symbols is described in some detail. Additionally the body of the book gives further information and examples of use.
| next page: 2 Basic Graphics | back to table of contents |