There are many possible ways to include Mathcad materials in textbooks for distribution to faculty and students. Read about how various publishers have provided Mathcad’s live maths worksheets for their readers in the higher education community.
- Fundamentals of Engineering Design by Barry Hyman — Professor Hyman uses Mathcad’s password protection feature to distribute assignments and solutions built from the same worksheets. The instructor’s manual for the textbook includes an E-book of Mathcad worksheets with assignments for the students to complete in Mathcad. These assignments have solutions hidden in password-protected areas throughout the worksheets, which means they can be distributed to students without fear of giving away the solutions. The instructor’s copy of the textbook contains the password for unlocking these regions and gaining access to the solutions. The password is also available through Mathsoft’s academic sales representatives. For more information on this textbook, see Barry Hyman’s Home Page.
- Analogue Electronics with LABVIEW by Kenneth L. Ashley — This book provides laboratory experiments in LABVIEW, which students then use Mathcad to verify. These experiments (real and theoretical) are performed using LABVIEW simulations and the data is brought into Mathcad for analysis. For more information on this textbook, see the Analogue Electronics with LABVIEW pages on the Prentice Hall Web site.
- Computational Methods for Applied Science and Engineering: An Interactive Approachby Mario G. Ancona — All 600+ pages of this book were authored entirely in Mathcad. This physical volume, which explores various numerical methods for science and engineering problems, also includes a CD containing all the book materials in multiple electronic formats, including MCD (three versions of Mathcad files), PDF, DOC (Word 98), and HTML files. Professor Ancona notes in the Preface:
“…having the electronic version [of the book] adds the extra dimension of interactivity. With Mathcad the equations and plots of the book come alive, their numbers can be changed and played with, their solutions instantly displayed, and their analyses hyperlinked to explanatory material located elsewhere in the book… in the future all textbooks, at least in technical fields, will be electronic… the present effort is but an attempt to illuminate the way forward.”
For more information on this textbook, see the Computational Methods for Applied Science and Engineering: An Interactive Approach pages on the Rinton Press Web site.
- Physical Chemistry by Peter Atkins and Julio de Paula — The CD-ROM supplement for this textbook, Explorations in Physical Chemistry, contains 75 interactive Mathcad worksheets that motivate students to “simulate physical, chemical, and biochemical phenomena… Harnessing the computational power of Mathcad, students can manipulate graphics, alter simulation parameters and solve equations to gain deeper insight into Physical Chemistry. Complete with thought-stimulating exercises, Explorations in Physical Chemistry is a perfect addition to any Mathcad® enabled Physical Chemistry course, using any Physical Chemistry text book.” For more information on this textbook, see the Physical Chemistry pages on the W. H. Freeman Web site.
And finally, see Dr. Philip J. Pritchard’s MATHCAD: A Tool for Engineering Problem Solving, part of the B.E.S.T. Series from McGraw-Hill, as a fine example of using Mathcad for teaching and learning.