Reviews the books "Abnormal Psychology (2nd ed.)" by Comer (see record 1995-97324-000 ) and "Abnormal Psychology (3rd ed.)" by Rosenhan and Seligman (see record 1995-97647-000 ). The authors know that learning Mathematica is not a substitute for learning physics and they make a good case for using such software packages in the best interest of the subject. Some previous experience of Mathematica would be a distinct advantage before studying this book, but physicists wanting to see how Mathematica could be used in their particular field could benefit from a browse of a relevant chapter. While this may illustrate the graphical features of Mathematica it is cumbersome and the resulting code certainly does not help anyone to learn physics. For example, in a section on potentials and geodesics the eagerness to label individual curves in a multiple plot leads to verbose code to include positioning of text, choice of font and font size. However, the desire to use Mathematica's capabilities at every opportunity has its drawbacks. The appropriate code is always provided together with the output and a free electronic supplement is available. Each has plenty of `examples' or `problems' culminating in a set of `unsolved problems' - another name for exercise questions and not quite as daunting as they sound. There are six chapters covering standard material from an undergraduate physics syllabus. In times like these when motivating students is so important, this sort of approach can make learning fun provided one can master the tools that enable such questions to be answered and realize that this is not an end in itself.Īfter 18, all too brief, pages of introduction to the Mathematica commands required for the rest of the book, it is on with the business of learning physics. The authors are careful to state that `computer power is no substitute for human thinking' but point out the advantages of a package that allows one to ask `What if'. The main advantage is that the drudgery of calculation can be removed so that the fundamentals of the subject are made clear. There is a lot to be said for employing such a powerful software package in such a noble enterprise. Although it is easy to misread the title and think that this is a book for physicists, in fact it is primarily targeted at those who wish to learn university physics by making use of Mathematica.
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