It is the tool you wish you had in high-school math class.
Wolfram Alpha, a new search engine, has been assessed by Web watchers for its potential to compete with Google. But it's really a bigger threat to calculators -- and science and math curricula. Enter a chemical formula for, say, caffeine, and it will tell you everything from its molecular weight to its structure diagram. Enter a derivative, that fixture of calculus class, and it will determine the results, complete with a helpful "show steps" button.
Math teachers say the software, which takes elements from pricey proprietary programs and makes them freely available online, has the potential to give students empowering new tools. Some would argue too empowering. Lazy students could take shortcuts, while harried teachers get headaches redesigning their homework and tests in response to a moving target: The company behind Wolfram Alpha vows to keep expanding and improving it.
"Why bother learning information that can be Googled when needed?" asks Bruce Yoshiwara, a math professor at Los Angeles Pierce College. "And why master some mathematical algorithm, say long division, when computational power is always at hand?" Prof. Yoshiwara adds, "Wolfram Alpha should reinforce the millennial generation's devaluation of knowledge."
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