Essential PTC® Mathcad Prime® 3.0

I am a civil engineer with 33 years of experience. I have used Mathcad since the first Windows version, which IIRC was v3.0. I had even tested the last DOS version just before the first Windows version hit the streets. I then made every upgrade up through Mathcad 8.0 Standard in 1998, but stopped upgrading after that due to cost, irregular and sometimes infrequent use, and the fact the Mathcad 8.0 Standard handled just about everything I needed Mathcad to handle.Unfortunately, while Mathcad 8.0 Standard ran fine for me under Windows Vista and Windows XP, it does not always play nice with Windows 7, so when Mathcad Prime 3.0 was released I decided to upgrade in spite of the cost. I had tested Mathcad Prime 2.0 using PTC's 30-day free trial (after which it reverted to the very basic Mathcad Prime Express), but found too much still missing for what I needed. Mathcad Prime 3.0 is the first version that is more than adequate for me in most areas. I realize that the hardcore Mathcad 15 users are still not impressed with Mathcad Prime 3.0, but I like it a lot. I rate Mathcad Prime 3.0 at 8+/10 and figure that Mathcad Prime 4.0 will probably take that to 9/10 or better..Now on to Brent Maxfield's book…I am 11 chapters and 368 pages in and have found the book to be a nearly perfect introduction to Mathcad Prime 3.0, especially for a veteran, but old-school user like me. Mathcad Prime 3.0 is a quantum leap for me, especially since I had never done any programming. Maxfield does an excellent job explaining Mathcad Prime 3.0 from the ground up. The book is very well organized and his explanations are detailed, yet clear. Maxfield includes many examples, some contrived and some real-world. Since I am a civil engineer like Brent Maxfield, some of his real world examples are right down my alley. Rather than just stopping with descriptions of WHAT Mathcad Prime 3.0 can do (like most manuals), Maxfield offers useful commentary on HOW to use Mathcad Prime 3.0. He also points out some deficiencies with Mathcad Prime 3.0 and a bug related to symbolic SOLVE modifiers. I had stumbled across this myself, but thought I was doing something wrong. Maxfield's book confirmed it was a bug.Maxfield's book has enhanced my Mathcad productivity and knowledge in ways I cannot fully explain. I have learned new techniques and reinforced old ones. Going through this book inspired me to upgrade a number of my old Mathcad 8.0 Standard worksheets into Mathcad Prime 3.0 format and to create new ones from scratch and then share these with the Mathcad community. Perhaps the best way to explain how useful Maxfield's book has been to me is to point you to the nearly two dozen Mathcad Prime 3.0 worksheets I have posted to date in the PTC Community ([...]). In each case, I have included both the Mathcad Prime 3.0 worksheet and--for users of earlier versions of Mathcad or for people considering Mathcad--an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file.

The down side was that the additional material supposed to be avaiable at the publisher web site wasn't available (when I tried accessing it a few weeks ago).

This book is called Essential and that is fine for it will not teach you how to deal with every feature of Mathcad Prime.However, it is far more comprehensive that some would expect, and it can also be considered as a Bible for Mathcad, at least with regards to what you can get to do when you finish the book.It is a very well written book, the style is simple and straightforward, there are lots of tricks you have to learn about Mathcad to get going an this book tells you all about tricks and workarounds.I was mentioning that the book can be understood as a reference book, or a Bible, for Mathcad, and this is true when you realize that the best you can do is to follow the book starting from Chapter 1 and doing all exercises to the very end. This way you can get really acquainted of all you can do with Mathcad Prime. In that sense, this book works the same way that a bible for SolidWorks or Excel would work. You simply read the whole book from A to Z and you get the point.You can skip chapters you do not need to read, but for someone who is new to Mathcad, reading the complete book works best.The examples are actually very easy to follow, there are no mistakes in the book as far as I am concerned, which is also a good point since meany technical reference books are full of typos or mistakes. In that sense, this book outperforms other technical books. At the end of each chapter, there are lots of exercises to be done, and some engineering examples as well, although those are very elementary but useful to the reader.I would recommend this book to someone who is to learn Mathcad.

The author has provided a much needed reference for the newer versions of MathCad introduced since V15. A number of changes have been incorporated into this series that can complicate use: especially for those of us used to the older versions. The author has noted that some of these were difficult to get used to which, as a current user since about version 4, I agree with. MathCad is a powerful software app especially for those in many technical areas including new users. A side issue is that PTC's installation process has really proven to be a pain as compared to MathSoft who initially offered the software

For $50 I was expecting some insight into more. Not bad but could have gotten the same info for free with some leg work.

Good book, althought product lacks still features from old mcad ! Writer has done great job finding hidden features of prime

nice reference

Clear & Concise. Real-world examples encourage using MathCAD Prime to program and develop mathematical/scientific methods by which to solve the many, many issues that Engineers, Chemists, Biochemists, and Mathematicians can face in their career. Would Highly Recommend.