NEWTON: An Interactive Environment for Exploring Mathematics

AbstractWe have developed a unique computational environment for use in teaching introductory mathematics. Our system, calledNewton, runs on Macintosh computers and consists of a user-friendly interface to the symbolic mathematics package Maple, supplemented by an extensive library of our own Maple code. Formulas are easily constructed and modified, appearing like those in textbooks; multiple windows allow users to see and work with several formulas at once. Formulas, graphs, and text can be intermixed in collapsible sections on worksheets. Users do not interact with Maple directly and need know nothing of Maple's syntax and command structure. Mathematical operations are selected from menus, with the added bonus that this makes it possible to document solutions. Originally designed for use in conjunction with the two semester introductory calculus sequence, the system has been extended for multivariate and vector calculus, linear algebra, numerical analysis, and differential equations