Who Makes Complex Calculus Simple Gautam Naik, The Wall Street Journal , September 25, 1996. For the program's creator, Stephen Wolfram, a physics whiz who got bored of academia and reinvented himself as a software salesman, converting the complicated into the simple has yielded a handsome business opportunity. Most ordinary Americans may hate doing math, but they are increasingly subject to its influence, whether they know it or not. Experts in a growing number of fields are relying on calculation rather than estimation.
Some textile designers use geometry to create pleasing new designs.
Many companies have discarded rule of thumb in favor of sophisticated statistical tools to decide what products to place on supermarket shelves. Even musicians use math equations to generate inventive new sounds. Mathematica has been used in each of these cases. Whether such neophytes are ready for it is the big question. Wolfram Research Inc., Champaign, Ill., is about to launch a souped-up version of the product, Mathematica 3.0.