The legacy of MATHLAB 68

  • Authors:
  • Carl Engelman

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • SYMSAC '71 Proceedings of the second ACM symposium on Symbolic and algebraic manipulation
  • Year:
  • 1971

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.02

Visualization

Abstract

MATHLAB 68 is an on-line system providing machine aid for the mechanical symbolic processes encountered in analysis. It is capable of performing, automatically and symbolically, such common procedures as differentiation, polynomial factorization, indefinite integration, direct and inverse Laplace transforms, and the solution of linear differential equations with constant (symbolic) coefficients. We discuss its interactive nature and its range of services which extends from ignorant bookkeeper to, on occasion, expert problem solver. We also describe the internal data representations and algorithms of the system. The paper regards the system as a fixed object and explores its accomplishments, its contributions to future systems, the motivation and consequences of the major decisions made during its development and, perhaps most important of all, its weaknesses.