''MathWorld'' is an online

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

reference work, created and largely written by Eric W. Weisstein. It is sponsored by and licensed to Wolfram Research, Inc. and was partially funded by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

National Science Digital Library National Science Digital Library (NSDL) of the United States is an open-access online digital library A digital library (also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, a library without walls, or a digital collectio ...

grant to the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

History

Eric W. Weisstein, the creator of the site, was a

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

student who got into the habit of writing notes on his mathematical readings. In 1995 he put his notes online and called it "Eric's Treasure Trove of Mathematics." It contained hundreds of pages/articles, covering a wide range of mathematical topics. The site became popular as an extensive single resource on mathematics on the web. In 1998, he made a contract with

CRC Press The CRC Press, LLC is an American publishing group that specializes in producing technical books. Many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics. Their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information technol ...

and the contents of the site were published in print and

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

form, titled ''CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics''. The free online version became only partially accessible to the public. In 1999 Weisstein went to work for Wolfram Research, Inc. (WRI), and WRI renamed the Math Treasure Trove to ''MathWorld'' and hosted it on the company's website without access restrictions.

CRC lawsuit

In 2000, CRC Press sued Wolfram Research Inc. (WRI), WRI president

Stephen Wolfram Stephen Wolfram ( ; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in computer algebra and theoretical physics. In 2012, he was named a fellow of the American Mathematical So ...

, and author Eric W. Weisstein, due to what they considered a breach of contract: that the ''MathWorld'' content was to remain in print only. The site was taken down by a court

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

. The case was settled out of court in late 2001, with WRI paying an unspecified amount and complying with other

stipulation In United States law, a stipulation is a formal legal acknowledgment and agreement made between opposing parties before a pending hearing or trial. For example, both parties might stipulate to certain facts and so not have to argue them in court. A ...

s. Among these stipulations is the inclusion of a copyright notice at the bottom of the website and broad rights for the CRC Press to produce ''MathWorld'' in printed book form. In November 2001 site then became once again available free to the public.MathWorld Q&A: What is the history of MathWorld?
Wolfram MathWorld Last updated: Sat Apr 12 2025. In 2008, the litigants reached an agreement to allow new edition of MathWorld to be printed. This case made a wave of headlines in online publishing circles. The ''

PlanetMath PlanetMath is a free content, free, collaborative, mathematics online encyclopedia. Intended to be comprehensive, the project is currently hosted by the University of Waterloo. The site is owned by a US-based nonprofit corporation, "PlanetMath.org ...

'' project was a result of MathWorld's being unavailable.

References

External links

* {{Wolfram Research Mathematics websites American educational websites American online encyclopedias

Mathworld ''MathWorld'' is an online mathematics reference work, created and largely written by Eric W. Weisstein. It is sponsored by and licensed to Wolfram Research, Inc. and was partially funded by the National Science Foundation's National Science ...

Encyclopedias of mathematics

History

CRC lawsuit

See also

References

External links