Wolfram Alpha

I am a big fan of mathematics. That doesn’t mean I’m any good at it. My math skills have by now probably regressed to a pre-algebra state. I’d probably even have trouble with fractions. Being poor at math does not preclude me from being a fan, just as those with no athletic ability can be fans of sport.

I found a Stephen Wolfram lecture from February 2010 on ted.com a couple weeks ago. The title of the talk was, Computing a Theory of Everything. Wolfram discusses how nearly all human knowledge can be made computable. Living in the Internet age every one has access to answers of issues on nearly every level.

Building on his program, Mathematica ,Wolfram created a program called Wolfram | Aalpha, which goes far beyond a search engine. It is an information engine. If you enter a question into a search engine you are often directed to sites where you may or may not find the answer you seek. Wolfram | Alpha on the other hand answers your question. It is primarily based in mathematics and statistics; however I’ve been surprised how many questions it will answer. I asked it how many people are in the military and the detailed answer was astounding. You can ask this program nearly any scientific question and you will find an accurate answer.

You can try it at:

http://www.wolframalpha.com/