MathWorld
Encyclopedia
MathWorld is an online mathematics
reference work, created and largely written by Eric W. Weisstein
. It is sponsored by and licensed to Wolfram Research, Inc. and was partially funded by the National Science Foundation
's National Science Digital Library
grant to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
and astronomy
student who got into the habit of writing notes on his mathematical readings. In 1995 he put his notes online and called it "Eric's Treasure Trove of Mathematics". It contained hundreds of pages/articles, covering a wide range of mathematical topics. The site became popular as an extensive single resource on mathematics on the web. Weisstein continuously improved the notes and accepted corrections and comments from online readers. In 1998, he made a contract with CRC Press
and the contents of the site were published in print and CD-ROM, titled "CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics". The free online version became only partially accessible to the public. In 1999 Weisstein went to work for Wolfram Research, Inc. (WRI), and WRI renamed the Math Treasure Trove to MathWorld at http://mathworld.wolfram.com and hosted it on the company's website without access restrictions.
sued WRI, WRI president Stephen Wolfram
, and author Eric Weisstein, due to what they considered a breach of contract: that the MathWorld content was to remain in print only. The site was taken down by a court injunction. The case was later settled out of court, with WRI paying an unspecified amount and complying with other stipulations. Among these stipulations is the inclusion of a copyright notice at the bottom of the website and broad rights for the CRC Press to produce MathWorld in printed book form. The site then became once again available free to the public.
This case made a wave of headlines in online publishing circles. The PlanetMath
project was a result of MathWorld's being unavailable.
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
reference work, created and largely written by Eric W. Weisstein
Eric W. Weisstein
Eric W. Weisstein is an encyclopedist who created and maintains MathWorld and Eric Weisstein's World of Science . He currently works for Wolfram Research, Inc.-Education:...
. It is sponsored by and licensed to Wolfram Research, Inc. and was partially funded by the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
's National Science Digital Library
National Science Digital Library
The United States' National Science Digital Library is an open-access online digital library and collaborative network of disciplinary and grade-level focused education providers...
grant to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
History
Eric W. Weisstein, the creator of the site, was a physicsPhysics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
student who got into the habit of writing notes on his mathematical readings. In 1995 he put his notes online and called it "Eric's Treasure Trove of Mathematics". It contained hundreds of pages/articles, covering a wide range of mathematical topics. The site became popular as an extensive single resource on mathematics on the web. Weisstein continuously improved the notes and accepted corrections and comments from online readers. In 1998, he made a contract with CRC Press
CRC Press
The CRC Press, LLC is a publishing group which specializes in producing technical books. While many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics, their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information technology...
and the contents of the site were published in print and CD-ROM, titled "CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics". The free online version became only partially accessible to the public. In 1999 Weisstein went to work for Wolfram Research, Inc. (WRI), and WRI renamed the Math Treasure Trove to MathWorld at http://mathworld.wolfram.com and hosted it on the company's website without access restrictions.
CRC lawsuit
In 2000, CRC PressCRC Press
The CRC Press, LLC is a publishing group which specializes in producing technical books. While many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics, their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information technology...
sued WRI, WRI president Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram is a British scientist and the chief designer of the Mathematica software application and the Wolfram Alpha computational knowledge engine.- Biography :...
, and author Eric Weisstein, due to what they considered a breach of contract: that the MathWorld content was to remain in print only. The site was taken down by a court injunction. The case was later settled out of court, with WRI paying an unspecified amount and complying with other stipulations. Among these stipulations is the inclusion of a copyright notice at the bottom of the website and broad rights for the CRC Press to produce MathWorld in printed book form. The site then became once again available free to the public.
This case made a wave of headlines in online publishing circles. The PlanetMath
PlanetMath
PlanetMath is a free, collaborative, online mathematics encyclopedia. The emphasis is on rigour, openness, pedagogy, real-time content, interlinked content, and also community of about 24,000 people with various maths interests. Intended to be comprehensive, the project is hosted by the Digital...
project was a result of MathWorld's being unavailable.
See also
- Eric W. WeissteinEric W. WeissteinEric W. Weisstein is an encyclopedist who created and maintains MathWorld and Eric Weisstein's World of Science . He currently works for Wolfram Research, Inc.-Education:...
- PlanetMathPlanetMathPlanetMath is a free, collaborative, online mathematics encyclopedia. The emphasis is on rigour, openness, pedagogy, real-time content, interlinked content, and also community of about 24,000 people with various maths interests. Intended to be comprehensive, the project is hosted by the Digital...
- List of online encyclopedias
- MathematicaMathematicaMathematica is a computational software program used in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing...