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Mathematica v12.1

writings.stephenwolfram.com

91–97 of 97 posts

Re: Mathematica v12.1

#93
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reproducible has a much simpler meaning than that you describe: it’s feasible for any scientist to recreate the result perpetually. While inspection of the methods might help one understand the result—and I think itself holds a great deal of value to especially mathematicians—just the simple ability to compute the answers yourself without binding yourself to a contract or paying $1000’s of dollars in license fees is…

While I don't disagree with your definition of reproducibility, I want to point out that very few papers would satisfy that criteria, regardless of their use of a closed- vs open-source software. Here is a recent example: Imperial College COVID-19 response team published an article[1] where they modeled different effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as suppression and mitigation on the number of infected…

Making an exact copy of an experiment is the lwest level of reproducibility. In science , reproducibility means reproducing the results with different components (people, tools, methodology), showing robust Independence form potential confounders.

Re: Mathematica v12.1

#94
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have funding; that’s great! Exactly what I’m saying is that these projects manage to be community run (to some extent) while still remaining successful. If Wolfram’s reason to not publish the source code is that they believe they would no longer have a business model, they should list that as the One Reason, not 12 gaslighting reasons.

Well, they clearly think their model works for them. If you think otherwise, it's on you to convince them that they should change their model, or start your own effort if you think it will benefit humanity. I don't think they necessarily need to "defend" their business choices.

I don't care what works for them. I care what works for society.

Re: Mathematica v12.1

#95
post #52
post #6

Mathematica is an amazing tool, but it has one huge downside: reproducibility. It is a closed monolith, and - especially when you start to use advanced features - you derive results from it that can't be independently verified because of the closed source nature of the monolith.

Has this ever happened to you? There can't be many areas of mathematics in which it could.

What do you mean? There are many areas of math where providing a proof matters.

Re: Mathematica v12.1

#96
post #91

Now if only it wasn't $350 for home use. Like any non-privileged student can afford that.

It is free on the Raspberry Pi computer.

It is, and that's how I use it, but we also find that computer in the category "horribly underpowered" category of devices that can run Mathematica.

Re: Mathematica v12.1

#97

Now if only it wasn't $350 for home use. Like any non-privileged student can afford that.

$160 or $80/yr for students

"per year" is the drug dealer of the software world. Adobe might be the biggest pusher, but Mathematica isn't far behind.
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