Taylor series of sin^3(x)
Two days ago, Stephen Wolfram launched Wolfram|Alpha (if your last name was Wolfram you’d have an ego, too, even if you were smart, and apparently this guy is). What is Wolfram|Alpha? It’s a “computational knowledge engine.” Not a search engine, a COMPUTATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ENGINE. In other words, say you want to compare the GDPs of Hungary and Paraguay over a series of non-contiguous years, or just want to know how many herring, on average, will fit into your Goyard Courier Trunk, then this is the place for you. In still other words, imagine a real 1950s/60s-style sci-fi computer (HAL 9000, Enterprise ship’s computer, etc.), one that you can ask complex questions in lay terms and Wolfram|Alpha does the work for you. For instance, you can ask for the Taylor series of sin^3(x) and it will give you, among other things, the graph displayed above. If you aren’t convinced of how cool this is and how mind-blowing the next generation of freely available computing tools is going to be, go check out the demo. If I’d had this in high school, lab reports would have kicked ass.
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