From Our Customers

Notes from our Scientific WorkPlace and Scientific Word customers

"Thanks again for the prompt, and expert help that you continue to provide users. SWP is an outstanding program that has been a truly invaluable resource that I have used extensively since 1994."

— Professor Douglas Cline
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Rochester

"I think the support line of mackichan deserves to be called "best support line ever seen.
Thanks again for your very quick and very helpful reply. I will add the following line into my textbook:
I would also like to thank MacKichan (Software) for their repeated, quick and very useful support on typesetting issues in Scientific Word. "
— Klaus Wälde
Professor of Economics
Gutenberg Forschungskolleg, University of Mainz, www.waelde.com

"I have worked with Scientific Word since the very early days of 1992 when the program first became available. After retiring from the Chair of Mathematics at the University of Birmingham, England in 1990, secretarial help was no longer to hand; I struggled with LaTeX but then in 1992 Scientific Word became available. Since then I have written hundreds of pages of mathematical analysis in Scientific Word, many of them in collaboration with Lance Littlejohn (Baylor University, Texas) and Anton Zettl (Northern Illinois University) both of whom are devoted users of Scientific Word. Two outstanding qualifications for Scientific Word; the handbooks are superb, both in format and in providing help and advice to the user; the on-line support is excellent. I am grateful to MacKichan and to the staff; without their combined efforts my life as a professional mathematician would not have been possible."
— W.N. Everitt, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Birmingham

"I am very proud of the fact that I used Scientific WorkPlace to write a total of 565 pages of graduate thesis work at the University of Waterloo. This was twice the total output for typical graduate students in my department, who generally used ordinary LaTeX. I am convinced that this would have been impossible without SWP, which dramatically increased my mathematical productivity. " — Dr. Frederick W. Chapman, Visiting Professor of Computer Science, Drexel University

"Your support staff is wonderful! They have always been quick to respond,
extremely nice and accommodating, and very helpful! Kudos! " — Ron A. Adams, MCP, Computer Engineer/Analyst, SuprTEK Support Services Contractor, Air Force Institute of Technology

"Needless to say, your product is terrific. I can't live without it and, even though both of my students are true texers, I know as soon as they try SWP 5.5, they won't want to live without it either!! Thanks very much - I also appreciate very much how MacKichan has responded to suggestions from me or my colleagues."— Lance Littlejohn, Chairman, Department of Mathematics, Baylor University

"I'm so glad this software exists. It's so intuitive and user friendly. This is the software I prayed for to help me write up my physics homework. Thank you, thank you, thank you."— Steve Johnson, Student, SUNY, Albany

"MacKichan Software—in their own league when it comes to customer service."— Ron Thacker, Student, Kennesaw State University

"Scientific WorkPlace is a complex application that makes the production of articles a joy." — Raymond Kennington, University of Adelaide, South Australia

"Scientific WorkPlace is the best software for typesetting mathematics in the world. The first time I sat down to use Scientific Workplace I typed an entire paper without opening a manual. When writing my Ph.D. dissertation, Scientific Workplace saved me from investing large amounts of time learning LaTeX code. As a result I was able to graduate in four years instead of five.

As faculty member I use SWP to write all of my research papers. Its integrated [computational] engine allows me to do mathematical computations and draw 3-D graphs on the fly. I can also readily exchange files with co-authors that use LaTeX.... I also use SWP to prepare my lecture notes, exams, homework solutions, and presentations slides. Furthermore SWP’s built-in PDF writer makes putting these materials on the web a snap.

SWP lets me spend less time typesetting, and more time on mathematics." — Darren Narayan, Assistant Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology

"Your web site had a number of quotes from customers praising your customer service. I must admit that I’m convinced: everything about your product has so far met or exceeded my expectations (from the quick delivery of your product, to my first impressions with using your software, to the support I’ve so far seen)." — Jeff Achtnig, Product Development Manager, Nalisys, Inc.

"I wanted to let you know how much I appreciated the help of your technical support people. All of them were very helpful and polite.... I sincerely appreciate... their patience in dealing with someone (me) who is somewhat technologically challenged." — Amy Ratcliffe, Project Manager, International Journal of Central Banking

"SWP/SNB are among my favorite softwares to use. (They) just keep getting better. With the copy picture, new animation capability, and absolutely perfect rendering of mathematical typography, (they have) for me been totally reliable. Every time I give a workshop... my audience is truly impressed. My congratulations to the whole MacKichan enterprise for providing this service for mathematicians and mathematics teachers." — G. Donald Allen, Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University

"Scientific WorkPlace is central to everything I do in communicating mathematics to students, colleagues, and corresponding authors." — Roger Horn, Editor, The American Mathematical Monthly

"The graphing features [in Scientific Notebook] are especially useful and
easy to use.... The single most useful feature [in] this product is the Exam
Builder. I create quizzes that are algorithmically generated for students
to practice mastery in basic skill and drill types of problems." — Violeta Vasilevska, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of South Dakota

"Scientific WorkPlace takes TeX and LaTeX to a new level of ease. I could truly focus on content and pure writing rather than typesetting and remembering arcane command sequences. Overall, SWP saved me at least a few months' work that otherwise would have been consumed on nothing but typesetting chores. Kudos to an extraordinarily powerful and easy to use package. Just wonderful. " — Andy Ilachinski, Center for Naval Analyses

"This is the scientific word processor I've been waiting for. I love it!" — Walter Grantham, Washington State University

"...another wonderful experience with the folks over at tech. support at MacKichan. They were extremely helpful.... The assistance I received was an example of the kind of prompt and useful help I have gotten in the past.... I will make it a point to suggest to others, who are looking for a good LaTeX front end, to put SWP at the top of their list." — Chetan Dave, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Pittsburgh

"The tech support from MacKichan for Scientific Word has been unbelievably good. I'll never forget your office repairing and emailing on Christmas Day our LaTeX file for our Phys. Rev. article.... So many software and hardware vendors are making it harder and harder to get technical support." — John Rasmussen, Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

"Scientific WorkPlace is the perfect tool for any mathematician in all aspects of his/her professional work. It is very good as a basic word processor and superb for publishing professional quality research papers and books with accurate mathematical symbols. The added features of being able to carry out live mathematical calculations and graphs is a huge bonus....One of the most surprising things about this feature-rich software is its speed....I can create mathematical documents of much better quality in less than half the time compared to using Microsoft Word. Among all of the LaTeX-based editors, Scientific WorkPlace is by far the best." — Peter Aitchison, Professor of Mathematics, University of Manitoba

"I have come to love Scientific Word. It makes typing logic easier and my documents are now far clearer and more readable than before. SW has become an absolutely essential tool for my work. The handbooks that came along with the program are really useful; they are very clear, superb." — Gemma Robles, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Salamanca

"Scientific WorkPlace has emerged as a robust and powerful tool which should be part of the equipment supplied to every instructor of mathematics or science at college or university level. There is simply nothing else like it. Scientific WorkPlace is not merely the best piece of software of its type. It is the only piece of software of its type." — Jonathan Lewin, Professor of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University

"I was considered a customer worth looking after before becoming a customer and I believe I am important to [MacKichan Software] as a customer....Thank you, MacKichan Software, for your extremely high standards of documentation and installation." — Gerry Roberts, United Kingdom

"Instead of using email to grumble about bugs in software, I thought it would be nice to praise some software—something I've never done before. I've found Scientific Word 4.0 to be a wonderful program that has really enhanced my working environment and reduced my frustration levels immensely. The printed manuals with 4.0 are a great advance, particularly the Typesetting manual. For someone like me, with no prior experience of LaTeX, it's essential to have some printed document which at least gets you started—it's very psychologically reassuring to have a book there....Now that I've gotten 4.0, I've been lavishly praising SciWord to colleagues. Thanks again for a great product." — Mark Bravington, CSIRO Marine Research, Hobart, Tasmania

"Wow! My order of last Thursday was delivered to my University office this morning, before I had a chance to get my coffee—give yourself an A+ on service! I look forward to getting this upgrade installed and running." — William S. Jewell, University of California, Berkeley

"Every paper that I have written using SWP has been better for it. SWP allows me to explore complex 'what if?' scenarios in setting up equations for a manuscript—far easier than with other software, and in a way that is impossible with pencil and paper." — Mark Conde, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks

"I received wonderful Customer Service from MacKichan in learning to use my Scientific Workplace 4.1. I had two problems, which were solved personally and within a few hours. One was an inability to plot certain functions [and the] second was an inability to plot specific Bessel functions. Like most user difficulties, my problems could have been solved by being an expert in SWP 41, but I am a beginner. For a good consumer product, the ability to consult an expert and to speed up one's progress on the learning curve is essential. I am very grateful, and the project I was using this for was a success." — Michael Steinitz, Professor of Physics, St. Francis Xavier University

"I have written two texts with Scientific WorkPlace. It is so easy to use that it doesn't interfere with the creative process. I can't imagine writing mathematics without it." — John Kinney, Professor of Mathematics Emeritus, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

"...I commend you on your super service:

• Email order Wednesday afternoon...
• UPS delivery Thursday morning...

P.S. The product and technical support are equally superb." — Professor Lewis Lum, Chair of the Department of Mathematics, The University of Portland

"You may recall that this is the second book I have published using Scientific Word. The program has become indispensable for me in my work." — Donald W. Katzner, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts/Amherst

"The support that MacKichan has given has been really outstanding, and I wanted to say 'Thank you.' I can truly recommend the software to my friends without worry if they will be able to get the support they will invariably need (with products that are so rich and deep, I can't imagine anyone who would not need some level of support)." — Dr. Samuel Doughty, Mechanical Engineer

"It is a pleasure using Scientific WorkPlace and being able to collaborate on documents with my colleagues who are still in the stone age. To me, Scientific WorkPlace represents a quantum leap into modern civilization!" — Dr. Paul Drechsel, University of Mainz, Germany

"We used SWP 2.5 to write our book, Stochastic Processes in Epidemiology. It was your software that made the book possible, for if it would have been done the old fashion way with proofs to read, I would not have undertaken the task." — Dr. Charles J. Mode, Department of Mathematics, Drexel University

"Object-orientation has been applied with startling results. A package which allows the user to think and create at the keyboard and the output is precisely what one sees. To be commended for its interface to the user." — Raymond Kennington, University of South Australia

"We badly needed a test generator that for uniformity, could generate similar tests, and for security and retesting, could generate different tests. We also wanted high-quality printing, extensive mathematical notation, and graphics capability. Of all the packages tested, Scientific WorkPlace was the only one to meet all of these demands." — Jack Schiller, Temple University

"For me (and I am sure many other people) the combination of SWP and BibDB makes a super writing environment that in my opinion surpasses Microsoft Word and WordPerfect." — W. Bentley MacLeod, Professor of Economics and Law, University of Southern California

"I work for a very Windows-oriented shop, but I have to write journal articles and other publications. I cannot stand the poor text quality I get out of MS Word, nor the wretched way it does mathematics. So since LaTeX does all that wonderfully, and I must use Windows, your products are a Godsend." — Christopher Daft, General Electric

"I have been a Scientific WorkPlace and Notebook customer for a while. It may be no surprise that it is the only LaTeX editor/numerical analysis tool that I bother with on any Microsoft operating system." — Dan Beatty, Graduate Assistant, Texas Tech University

"You deserve first-class credit for customer service, and I am again impressed with your company and its products." — Elisabeth G. Baker, Manager of Technical Documentation, APLAC Solutions Corp., Helsinki, Finland

Notes from our Scientific Notebook customers

"Earlier today I found out that I have been awarded the President's Excellence in Teaching Award, Category 'Innovative Excellence in Teaching'. I couldn't have done it without Scientific Notebook. As you know, I have pioneered the use of Scientific Notebook both for in-class and on-line teaching for many years now. Thank you for having created this wonderful tool for teaching and learning."

— Dr. Fred Szabo
Concordia University

"I recently completed a master's program in math at Emporia State University in Kansas. Many of the classes were online. Scientific Notebook was invaluable while I was working on this degree. At first, I was afraid that doing homework and papers on the computer would be slow and cumbersome. I thought I would have to do things by hand first and then transcribe that work with Scientific Notebook. As it turned out, it didn't take long at all to get comfortable with the software and cut out the pencil and paper part and think and figure in Notebook. I even took notes on a laptop in Scientific Notebook. By using symbols and doing calculations in SNB, sometimes I even finished taking notes before the professor was through writing on the board! Presentations and papers were a breeze. I was also teaching a night class at the same time, and couldn't believe how efficiently I could produce class materials and tests with SNB. I can honestly recommend Scientific Notebook to teachers and students and researchers as a wonderful tool you will wonder how you ever did without." Jana T. Goodman Leavenworth, Kansas

"You folks are the greatest. I think Scientific Notebook is superior in almost every respect to other programs.... A calculus student made me aware of SNB about 2 years ago. I purchased a copy and found it so user-friendly and powerful that I use it exclusively. Anything I can do on my other programs, I can do better and easier using SNB. Thanks for your help and thanks for a great program."— Boone Newson, Retired Engineer

"My Intermediate Unit ordered your wonderful Scientific Notebook software program....The manual that accompanied it is awesome!...thank you very much for this fabulous addition to my Braille student's math/science program. Scientific Notebook has been wonderful and we highly recommend it to other Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments. Thank you again." —Edie Bruckart, TVI/COMS, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments, Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, Grove City, Pennsylvania

"The more I use SNB the more I like it. It's...a fine scratchpad and report maker. Being able to solve equations with units is a great feature. Also, your pricing and licensing are quite good." —J.C. Randerson, Industrial Engineering student, Colorado State University

"The use of Scientific Notebook has added an important dimension to the learning of sophomore mathematics at Stevens. Students can let Scientific Notebook do the drudge work and concentrate on understanding the concepts. I am very pleased with the results, and recommend that others give it a try....Students find Scientific Notebook easy to learn....Another nice feature of Scientific Notebook is that it allows one to seamlessly interface with the web so that my students can download the project .tex files by simply clicking." — Professor Lawrence Levine, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Stevens Institute of Technology

"The vast majority of my students are enthusiastic about Scientific Notebook. They find the difference between using a graphing calculator and using Scientific Notebook something like the difference between riding in a donkey cart and taking a ride in the space shuttle....Students can experiment with mathematics in a Scientific Notebook document.... Some students are learning to write their mathematics in a much more complete and organized fashion than they ever did before they worked with Scientific Notebook. I, myself, do all my thinking at the computer screen." — Professor Jonathan Lewin, Department of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University

"Scientific Notebook allows students to focus on concepts and develop important technical writing skills at the same time. With its Internet capabilities, Scientific Notebook promises to have an impact on web-based learning." — John Gosselin, Mathematics Department, University of Georgia

"I strongly recommend Scientific Notebook. The power of Scientific Notebook lies in its broad range of applications. I use the software as a supplement for a probability and statistics class. My students learn how to graph data, simulate data, symbolically calculate expected values, variances, etc., numerically calculate corresponding estimates, and more. No other software I know of combines so many different areas of scientific applications with such an ease of use. (With Scientific Notebook) they electronically deposit and retrieve their homework." — Professor Heinrich Niederhausen, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Florida Atlantic University

"If a teacher of mathematics could only own one piece of software, this should be it. It is a mystery to me why every teacher of mathematics on the globe does not own Scientific Notebook." — Bill Pletsch, Chair of the Department of Mathematics, Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute, from Computer Algebra Systems: A Practical Guide, page 319

"As a first-time user of Scientific Notebook when I was in school, I was taken at its surprising ease of use. In a matter of minutes, I had mastered the fundamentals of syntax (the program is very user-friendly). The combination of computer algebra and word processing makes for a powerful mathematical tool. I felt so comfortable with Scientific Notebook that, in fact, I decided to write my final Senior Analysis project using it, after having had the software for only a week." — Aaron Bigbee, Bain & Co.

"While stuck at a colleague's office without my computer, I thought of a last-minute handout I wanted to type and asked a colleague if I could use whatever math software he had. He showed me a few things with Microsoft Word and the Equation Editor. I was shocked that it took five steps to create a fraction! (I counted.) And that didn't include having to change its size and position on the page. I don't want to have to enter another dimension in time to write a fraction!" — Rebecca Schantz, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Prairie State College

"Scientific Notebook has helped me tremendously for making tests and quizzes for my classes." — RG Reyes, Laredo, Texas

"One of my students wrote me: 'I am not a very 'calculator'-type of person but this software is really amazing and I have not even started to scrape the surface....it's wonderful....we definitely need to compliment MacKichan Software'..." — Professor Larry Levine, Stevens Technical Institute

"Frankly, I have been recommending SWP/SNB to my scientific colleagues ever since the beta version days of Scientific Notebook. It is by far the best scientific working tool on my machine." — Harvey Fox, University of Wisconsin

Notes from the MuPAD Visitors' Book

"Having come in contact with several Math programs in the past,...I find MuPAD absolutely wonderful in comparison to the others. It simply fulfills all my Algebra needs. Great thanks to the MuPAD team!!!" — Kelechi Odu

"I've used MuPAD for a few school related applications: solving ODEs for a heat transfer simulation, deriving some formulae for a rudimentary 'molecules in a box' simulator written in C and using OpenGL. It is a nice alternative to Mathematica." — Richard D. Best

"...extraordinary software." — Paolo Nenzi

"I have some experience with Mathematica, Matlab and Derive, mainly for classroom exercises but I'm impressed because MuPAD is quite complete and useful not only for educational purposes. Well done!!!" — Raul Uriarte Contreras

"MuPAD is great software!" — Masato Nishimura

"MuPAD is now a 'mandatory' application in our installations of Windows and Linux. Most of our mathematical analysis for medical image applications is done using MuPAD." — Luis Ibanez

"MuPAD has made life a lot easier. Great job." — Anthony Wilson

"Really great. Ok, really, really great." — J. Manrique