On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:47:12 -0700 (PDT), rjf <fate...@gmail.com> wrote: > Maybe an alternative viewpoint (perhaps taken by Axiom, and maybe > Sage) is > > (a) if you want to use a computer algebra system (especially one > accessed through Sage) effectively then > (b) you should know something about "modern algebra", at least so as > to be conversant with the notions > of ring, field, polynomial, ... and preliminary notions. This could > take about an hour of reading, > especially if you leave out proofs.
And maybe we can even work some of this into the tutorial: some examples of situations where you want to use the "ring" parameter together with a note that "ring=number system" or even "ring=RR or CC or QQ". Mathematicians reading this are not likely to be confused by it, and non-mathematicians might not run away screaming. People are likely to know what a polynomial *function* is, and we might not need to make them aware that it's not the same thing as a polynomial. But another bit that could go into the tutorial is some good examples where you want to use polynomials instead of symbolics. Best, Alex -- Alex Ghitza -- http://aghitza.org/ Lecturer in Mathematics -- The University of Melbourne -- Australia -- To post to this group, send an email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URL: http://www.sagemath.org
