Each chapter represents an important special function, family of special
functions, or general topic helpful for using or understanding special
functions and their applications.
Each chapter is being written under contract with specialists in the topic.
Likewise, each chapter will be validated under contract with a specialist.
A sample chapter on Airy Functions
is available for viewing.
Each chapter is broken down into major sections such as
Mathematical Properties,
Computation and Applications. Within each
section are subsections dealing with various aspects of the topic,
such as Notation, Differential Equation or
Software.
Finally, each subsection is broken down into subsubsections which appear
as individual HTML pages.
Navigation
At the top of each page, and at the bottom of longer pages, are links to
aid in navigating around the site or chapter.
Next and Previous links take you to the next or previous content-containing
page in the logical sequence (skipping over redundant tables of contents).
Context is reinforced by displaying the sequence of parents of each
sectional unit and provides a link to allow moving up to, for example,
the subsection which contains the current subsubsection, as well as
the containing section and chapter.
Meta-Information
Most sectional units, and all equations, have meta-information accessible
by clicking on the `about' link, the equation number, or the equation itself.
This meta-information provides extra detail about each element. For example,
there are detailed references which point to the exact reference for an equation or
how it can be derived. Each element will also have attributes assigned which
describe its role; this information will be used in the indexing capabilites.
The LaTeX source (and eventually an
OpenMath representation) for each
formula is also available.
Index and Search
The Index is being constructed from attributes assigned to
sections and formulas. It will also contain glossary entries and notational
entries. There will be a browsable Index, much like the index of a book, but
with page numbers replaced by links taking the user directly to the relevent
section. The Search capability is based on the same information but
will automatically find relevant entries based on a user's keywords.
Technologies
In its current form, we have attempted to maximize portability and
accessiblity in the Mockup, although we have made heavy use of graphics to present the
formulas. Otherwise, we have declined to make use of Java, Javascript,
MathML or Dynamic HTML in the mockup, although these, particularly MathML,
will be useful technologies in the future. In any case, accessibility for all users will
always be a primary concern.
See the mockup description for
more details.
We have used both VRML versions 1 and 2 in presenting dynamic
visualizations. Although VRML2 contains more features and is slightly more
compact, compatible VRML2 browser plugins are less common than VRML1 viewers.
The VRML Repository is a good source
of information about VRML viewers for various platforms.
