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From: meitnik on 1 Jun 2010 04:24
I would like to share an interesting point of view on Mathworld and
WRI.

I am legally blind and legally deaf (only 25% left for sight and
hearing) and have some learning disabilities. However, my mind is
sharp, creative, and always willing to explore and learn.
Math is not easy for me, but I sure enjoy finally nailing down an
equation towards a deeper intuitive sense. I work slow but intense.
Will I ever earn a MA, PHD or publish a major paper, nope. But some of
the 'A' students were those who I tutored from time to time. In high
school I started seeing how math is interconnected and wished I could
travel along those connections interactively -- long before I knew the
word hypertext. Those discovered connections came out by my slowing
skimming and working through a math dictionary from time to time.
Finally later in life, through the Home Edition, Mathematica gives me a
walking stick to use along those connections more or less. What has
been long missing is a fully interactive math dictionary that works
tightly with Mathematica. Mathworld is often a tease for me;close but so
disjointed and rough at times.
Back to math dicts. As for as I can tell, no one sells a interactive
PDF version of a math dictionary whose math can be cut and paste into
Mathematica. Handling small print, a heavy book, and poor typesetting I did
once during my college years (and am sure for many others); so wont
put myself through that again. It amazes me that WRI is still waiting
for Eric to finish cataloging the known Math universe. Seriously,
about a third of Mathworld could have been made into a rather nice
interactive Mathematica help system dictionary by now. For goodness sake, for
over ten years, enough already Eric! Let your work go and live outside
of your mathworld. And no w/a IS NOT what I had in mind either. W/A
gui and pods does not lend to what I want. And why is there not an
open source project for making a mma math dictionary that serves 90%
of students needs. Really! By now Eric could have made easily such a
dictionary for 25.00 sold via WRI or bundled with Home Edition. Or is
there hidden politics, power, and control from CRC and WRI disallowing
such an interactive dictionary to be made.
In my disabled world, I have to often daily work smart not hard. I am
always looking for a better lever to move my world. ;-) I am just
frustrated that I can't have a smart, hyperlink math dictionary now.
Don't the rest of you want to have a local interactive dictionary tool
to use?! Do we always have to wait for WRI to bless or give us what we
need??? IF I am misunderstanding or missing something, educate me and
point me to a real viable solution please. [[now, must stop typing my
fingers are killing me]]

andrew

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