Submitted By: BIPUL KUMAR

(12/IT/006)

Seminar On

Wolfram Alpha

Contents :

IntroductionHow it worksAdvantagesDisadvantagesFuture scopeConclusionReferences

Introduction:

Wolfram Alpha is a computational knowledge engine, a web site that computes information rather than finding it by search (it is like Google, but it presents you an answer instead of places to find the answer).

Purpose :Make computable knowledge accessible to everyone.It aims to collect all objective data , implement every

known model, method, and algorithm and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything.

What is Wolfram Alpha?

Wolfram Alpha is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research.

It generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links.

It is an online service that answers queries directly by computing the answer from structured data, rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a search engine might.

What It Does?

•Wolfram Alpha performs computations with known data.

• Data include:data given by the user.real-time data (weather, exchange rates, stock prices)data from its database (factual information about cities, stars, rivers, animals, etc.)•Computations include:comparisonsstatistics

How it works?

Wolfram Alpha is a system for computing the answers to questions.

To accomplish this it uses built-in models of fields of knowledge, complete with data and algorithms that represent real-world knowledge. For example, Users submit queries and computation requests via a text field. 

Wolfram Alpha then computes and infers answers and relevant visualizations from a core knowledge base of curated , structured data.

Wolfram Mathematica :

Wolfram Alpha gets all their data from several trusted databases, the primary one is Wolfram Mathematica.

• Wolfram Alpha is built on Wolfram's earlier flagship product, Mathematica, which includes computer algebra, symbolic and numerical computation , visualization, and statistics capabilities. With Mathematica running in the background, it is suited to answer mathematical questions.

The answer usually presents a human readable solution.

Wolfram Alpha architecture :

How’s it Different from Google?

What Search Engines Do :

Search Engines explore the web and provide the user with a list of links. The user then must decide which link(s) to visit.

What Wolfram Alpha Does :

Wolfram Alpha computes and/or searches for answers to the user's query, and displays those answers in an easy-to-read format. It does not display a list of websites.

Google Search :

Example:

Example:

Advantages:

• Answer is given to the query based on the curated data, unlike search engines.

• A better faster approach, than search engines, which saves time.

• Backed by some of the most advance super computers on Earth, it can easily be used for solving mathematical problems, and other type queries not possible with search engines.

Disadvantages :

One most disadvantage of Alpha has relative to search engines is that everything must be put in.

In comparison to search engine, they might sometime give an answer, that will be not as exact when compared to answer on the links suggested by Search engine.

It also reduces the scope of gathering of detailed information as the result shown in this is in structured format.

Future Scope:

Wolfram Alpha, as it exists today, is just the beginning. And as we go forward, we see more and more that can be made computable using the basic paradigms of Wolfram Alpha—and a faster and faster path for development.

Wolfram Alpha was made possible in part by the achievements of Mathematica and A New Kind of Science (NKS). In their different ways, both of these point to far-reaching future opportunities for Wolfram Alpha—whether a radically new kind of programming or the systematic automation of invention and discovery.

Further Research Required:

The key findings of the research were:

As answer is given on the basis of curated data, there are still some area still under heavy development.

Might not be as accurate, as its competitor counterpart, but there is scope for better development and commercial adaptation in near future.

Conclusion :

“Today's Wolfram Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all

systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone. Enter your question or calculation and Wolfram Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and a

growing collection of data to compute the answer.”

References:

The Wolfram Alpha Launch Team (May 8, 2009)."So Much for A Quiet Launch".Wolfram Alpha Retrieved 2013-02-09.

The Wolfram Alpha Launch Team (May 12, 2009). "Going Live—and Webcasting It". Wolfram Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. Retrieved 2013-02-09.

Johnson, Bobbie (March 9, 2009). "British search engine could rival Google “. The Guardian (UK: Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 2013-02-09.