Best program for math notes

[Lysergic Rain]

I'm in a math class and my handwriting is horrible. I want to convert my in class notes to digital notes.

What is the best program to do this? Originally I was just going to to use photoshop, but it would be really nice to have a program with a grid so I can just snap lines and vectors to the boxes to make quick and easy diagrams, charts, graphs, ect.

What I plan on doing is just throwing together a quick website (like a blog) with posts separated by date. Then under each day I'll have the equations written in text (I'm thinking latex). Then I'll make the diagrams in whatever program you guys recommend and screenshot them and upload them as images.

All I really need is quick diagram and graph features (preferably 3d xyz diagrams as well). But other math functions would be cool.

I'll most likely pirate it, so don't consider cost.

Thanks.

[Mathematics]

Latex is certainly the best option for equation formatting, but MS Word 2007 also has a really good equation editor and diagram tools that look reasonably professional and are easy to use. You can also export easily to .pdf which is a good format for this sort of thing.

If you want software to plot graphs I highly recommend Mathematica.

[superspeedz]

Latex

However pencil and paper ftw.

[Lysergic Rain]

Is there an easy way to include latex within a html document?

Also, this is an example of the type of diagram I am trying to make.
http://z.about.com/d/math/1/0/Y/1/anglename.gif

[Zip]

There are tex to html converters which will do the job. Check CTAN.

For simple diagrams you can't go wrong with Visio.

[grencez]

LyX is a fairly easy to use program that basically generates LaTeX. I used it for physics and CS homework (along with dot for graphs). Nowadays I do LaTeX by hand cause I wanna be a cool guy.

[xtol]

Like the others, I think a TeX system will give you the most attractive output. It's not very fast though.

To make the vector, angle pictures have you considered Asymptote? It's a vector graphics language that makes really nice figures. Also works with Tex.

[superspeedz]

I'm in a math class and my handwriting is horrible. I want to convert my in class notes to digital notes.

What is the best program to do this? Originally I was just going to to use photoshop, but it would be really nice to have a program with a grid so I can just snap lines and vectors to the boxes to make quick and easy diagrams, charts, graphs, ect.

What I plan on doing is just throwing together a quick website (like a blog) with posts separated by date. Then under each day I'll have the equations written in text (I'm thinking latex). Then I'll make the diagrams in whatever program you guys recommend and screenshot them and upload them as images.

All I really need is quick diagram and graph features (preferably 3d xyz diagrams as well). But other math functions would be cool.

I'll most likely pirate it, so don't consider cost.

Thanks.

What level of mathematics are you at, mind at some of the upper levels, technology is forbidden.

[The Jitterskull]

What level of mathematics are you at, mind at some of the upper levels, technology is forbidden.

And at even higher levels, technology is useless with it being all really weird symbols. I can't imagine vector calc under technology.

[danreil]

And at even higher levels, technology is useless with it being all really weird symbols. I can't imagine vector calc under technology.

You can definitely deal with vector calc with technology. Programs like Mathematica and Matlab and many others can do many things in vector calculus.

At an even higher level, there's software being developed that proves theorems automatically which seems pretty crazy to me.

[The Jitterskull]

At an even higher level, there's software being developed that proves theorems automatically which seems pretty crazy to me.

:eek:

Some theories blow my mind already.

[superspeedz]

You can definitely deal with vector calc with technology. Programs like Mathematica and Matlab and many others can do many things in vector calculus.

At an even higher level, there's software being developed that proves theorems automatically which seems pretty crazy to me.

link plx.

I wanna see software that can "prove theorems" not regurgitate old proofs.

[Fly Guy ARB]

math on the comp is one of those things that just hasn't been perfectly yet. we'll get there someday.

my suggestion is a bamboo (http://www.wacom.com/bambootablet/bamboofun.php) tablet pen for digital notes. however if you're main purpose is your shitty writing, then discard this idea.

typing equations is never an easy thing, and certainly not faster, but it is cleaner and more organized. i use microsoft word 2007. press alt + 4, and an equation bar will pop up. although you will still have to leave room to draw in the graphs, this coupled with a tablet has changed my life in my economics courses.

[danreil]

link plx.

I wanna see software that can "prove theorems" not regurgitate old proofs.

In general this type of software is known as automated theorem proving software. The only one that I have heard of specifically is Mizar and I believe that's the most widely used one, but there are others.

Here is the website for Mizar, and there is also a wikipedia entry.

http://www.mizar.org/

Also, keep in mind with this type of software, the proofs don't look like your typical elegant math proof. I've looked at a couple of their proofs to see what their like, (they have the Jordan Curve Theorem on that website as an example) and its all logical symbols and its extremely hard to follow what's going on, nothing at all like most human generated proofs.

To illustrate what I'm talking about, the following is a Mizar generated proof of the irrationality of the constant e.
http://www.mizar.org/JFM/Vol11/irrat_1.miz.html

Next, a proof due to Joseph Fourier that e is irrational.
http://mathforum.org/isaac/problems/eproof.html

Obviously the human generated proof is much cleaner but the Mizar system actually serves a purpose as it has developed proofs that humans have not been able to.

[Lysergic Rain]

What level of mathematics are you at, mind at some of the upper levels, technology is forbidden.

I'm in vector calculus

I needed the technology because I can't draw the diagrams..too complicated. lol.

[Zip]

I needed the technology because I can't draw the diagrams..too complicated. lol.

It's going to be just as complicated to learn basic line art with a computer program as it involves the same concepts, and you're duplicating your work.

I'm sure that even today your school has courses in technical drawing. If not, learn to use a straightedge, graph paper and the proper writing instruments. Basic isometric drawing is all you need for 3D sketches.

The "technology" was developed for technical illustrators who already knew what they were doing to make publication quality drawings, not as a substitute for basic sketching and not to provide a better way of presenting information. You're just going to end up wasting a lot of time when you should be learning the concepts and you probably won't follow through on this idea anyway.