This
is our “Back to School” Issue. Welcome back, everyone!
In this issue, we will forecast two interesting new directions for the Mathwright Library. The first article takes a second look at Java and discusses the shape of the upcoming “Java version” of Mathwright, which will bring the Library to many new platforms, including the Mac and Sun workstations. In the second article, we announce the new Mathwright Author 2000 program.
In an earlier article, I discussed the feasibility of creating interactive WorkBooks in applet form, and found Java 1.1 wanting in a number of critical respects. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to learn and work with that remarkable language, and was pleased to learn that I spoke too soon. Java is an extremely rich and powerful language. In its purity and simplicity, it is reminiscent of LISP, the base language for Mathwright. But with its indefatigable API, and its focus on the web idiom, I feel it is truly a language for the new millennium.
Mathwright WorkBooks do require the flexibility to create new (runtime) structure while they are being read by students, and the Lisper LISP interpreter is an excellent medium for that. I am pleased to report that there is now a Java version of Mathwright’s LISP interpreter, and it is in fact quite a bit more powerful than the original LISP. This encourages me to say that, within a year, there will be a Java version of Mathwright itself. It will first appear in application form, like the Mathwright Library Player, but will be available of course for all platforms that support Java 2 and Java3D. And when the major web browsers will support Java2D and Java3D, there will be versions of the Library Books in applet form also.
The Java-based LISP interpreter that will support the Java version of Mathwright is called Lava, and is almost ready for beta testing. This Java 2 application is an excellent way to learn LISP, has online documentation, interactive graphics including Logo, and supports almost the entire range of mathematical functions that Mathwright does (albeit, currently in pure LISP form). We are accepting applications for beta testers. The testing will start mid-October. So if you are interested in playing with this Java version of LISP, please let us know, and tell us a little about yourself: your background and interests, and perhaps your ideas on the role of LISP and Logo in mathematical pedagogy. You may reach us at info@mathwright.com, or through the Library. We will be most interested in placing Lava in the hands of teachers who have already made some use of the Mathwright Library in the classroom.
For those of you who may not want to wait the year or two before the Java version of Mathwright appears, I am happy to announce that, beginning in October, there will be available a new Mathwright Author program, succeeding and extending Mathwright 2.1, called Mathwright Author 2000. This acknowledges and responds to a strong interest on the part of teachers to have a platform for creating interactive mathematical texts that will allow them freely to share the books they create without having to purchase licenses to a separate program (the Mathwright Player).
The interactive WorkBooks that teachers create with Mathwright Author 2000 will be immediately readable by the Mathwright Library Player. Therefore, since the Library Player is free, and may be downloaded from the Library website, or distributed by other means, teachers may easily arrange for their students to have access to the WorkBooks they create, either by having them download the Library Player from Mathwright Library, or by distributing the MWL.EXE file with their WorkBooks. Of course, Mathwright Author 2000 is still a WindowsÔ based program. Those of you who purchase Mathwright Author 2000 will have the opportunity to upgrade to the Lava Mathwright when the Java version appears for a nominal $50.00 upgrade cost. If you are interested in learning more, please visit our page: at the Mathwright Library. Happy Scripting,
James E. White, Editor
If you came here from the old building,
