"Mathematica is interactive and comprehensive. I can type something in and see the effects immediately. If I had to code it in C, it could take days to implement the algorithm and add the proper visualization routines to display the results. Prototyping in Mathematica saves me a lot of time."

What's Your Preference--Corn Flakes or Granola, "NYPD Blue" or "The Simpsons"?

Data is being collected on us, as consumers, all the time--what we buy, what we watch on television, what we like to read. As investors, we often use data that's been gathered and translated into corporate, bond, and stock ratings. And those never-ending polls tell us, as voters, who's up and who's down in the latest political battle. Mathematica helps analysts make sense of it all.

At Pilot Software (a division of global information broker Dun & Bradstreet Corporation), Dr. Kurt Thearling uses Mathematica to find patterns in large data sets and to test new "data mining" (data analysis) algorithms. The data mining that his Data Intelligence Group performs for divisions throughout the company is essential to operations that range from determining what television shows are most watched (known as the Nielsen ratings) to assessing the credit worthiness of millions of companies around the world. The more refined the analysis is, the more valuable the data becomes, and thus the better D&B can serve its clients.

"Mathematica makes it easy to test a new hypothesis as I'm working to understand complex statistical routines," says Thearling. "I often take technical papers and turn them into Mathematica programs so that I can work with the formulas directly. Just seeing an equation on paper doesn't mean much until you can start manipulating it to fit your own needs."

Key features of Mathematica used:

• Symbolic
• Graphic
• Programming