Math makes you cry? Try SymPy!

This summer I wrote a short SymPy tutorial that illustrates how a computer
algebra system can help you understand math and physics. Using SymPy you can solve all kinds of math problems, painlessly.
Check it:

Sympy tutorial (PDF, 12 pages)

Print this out, and try the examples using live.sympy.org. The topics covered are: high school math, calculus, mechanics, and linear algebra.

SymPy makes all math and physics calculation easy to handle, it can even make them fun! Learn the commands and you’ll do well on all your homework problems. Best of all, sympy is free and open source software so your learning and your calculations won’t cost you a dime!

Comments and feedback below, on HN, on fb, or via twitter.

One thought on “Math makes you cry? Try SymPy!”

1. Dan K

Hi Ivan,
It looks like your book is exactly what I have been looking for (just ordered from amazon through your link). I drop out of collage to start a business. I do a lot of financial modeling (e.g. basic pro forma financial projections for electrical power plant project financing). I am self-taught but I have always had engineers to do the real math (dispatch curves etc…) for my models. Dropping out of university has not hurt me in business but I deeply regret not having a formal math and science background. I love math (as far as I know it) and am an Excel junky. I have lived as an adult through the computer/internet genesis and try to follow the amazing breakthroughs in physics (Higgs, dark matter/energy etc…) but I can only go so far because I don’t have the math/physics skills to gain a true understanding. We are on the verge of being able to see the mind of God through science and I do not want to be left behind. With this in mind and if the cost of the program is not an issue would you recommend SymPy over Mathematica Mathcad Mathlab or Maple? I know that there is a learning curve for any software program that I choose but I would rather start with the one that I will end up with instead of having to change midstream.
Thanks