Derive$^R$, A Mathematical Assistant
Author(s): Jeanette R. Palmiter
The College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan., 1991), pp. 65-69.
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2686680
Tags: Software for differential equations and dynamical systems
Abstract. This software review examines how Derive$^R$, A Mathematical Assistant is a user friendly calculator that can aid in the process of learning college calculus and in some cases can help with upper level mathematics such as differential equations and linear algebra. During the end of the 20th century Derive became one of the first programs with the ability to out process popular programs by being able to compute algorithms 3 to 10 times faster than its competitors Maple, Mathematica, and MACSYMA. Derive also became more popular due to its ability to run on cheaper computers, which allowed more students the opportunity to advance their learning. Although Derive may be affordable and fast it lacked the ability to explain how it found the answer “Unlike maple, Derive merely computes the antiderivative without any indication as to which technique of integration is being used.” which can be discriminated by many mathematicians as a drawback. This being said Derive contains yet another flaw that waits in its programing “graphs must be printed using the capabilities of a separate graphics or screen capturing program” this causes the graphing to run rather slowly. Even though they no longer print copies of Derive, which comes on a 5.5 floppy diskette (360K), you can ask a friend who owns a TI calculator and tell them that they are using programing that is almost thirty years old which in most college student cases older then them. Marc C. Hubbard, Stephen F. Austin State University, May 3, 2017.
