Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and austere, like that of a sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trapping of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.

- Bertrand Russell

About

The following are the notes from the Mathematics Applications for Linux presentation given in October 2000. I've been continually adding sections over the past few months, however.

The aim for this section is a general introduction to some of the more popular and useful packages. I believe that these tools can dramatically aid understanding of the underlying mathematics because they allow the student to easily change variables and initial conditions and immediately see the results.