WolframAlpha

WolframAlpha is a "computational knowledge engine" created by the English physicist, mathematician, inventor and author Stephen Wolfram.

HOW IT WORKS

Launched in 2009, WolframAplha is an alternative to Google. It differs from traditional search engines in that it attempts to compute the answer to a query. That is, it gives a specific answer to the question asked of it by using knowledge accumulated in different areas. It aims to do something more than point users towards websites which may or may not have the information you're looking for. Traditional search engines work by a process of matching, which, as we all know, regularly lead to sites that bear no relation to our initial search. WolframAlpha might seem narrow and mathematical in focus, but it does offer a very different experience to Google. For instance, put "love" into Google and you will get the Wikipedia entry on love, a link to LoveFilm and one to the Love Calculator, which helps you work out if a relationship will work. Put the same word into WolframAplha and you will get seven distinct definitions of the word, the origins of the word, its frequency, its pronunciation, synonyms and rhyming words.

GETTING STARTED

There is much to read on the site about the history of this project and how it all works. Should you have a mathematical background you might want to take a look at this. But the best place to begin for the average user is Stephen Wolfram's thirteen minute audio-visual guide. It's to the point, fairly straightforward and highlights the essential nature of this search engine: it allows you to make searches on things that can be computed. This is not the place to come to be led to online shops or how Liverpool FC did in their last match. But if you need dates, figures and formulae look no further.

THE FUTURE

We are only at the beginning of the WolframAlpha. Stephen Wolfram's vision is to "systematically go through the different domains" of knowledge and make them as "computable as possible." The plan is a "broader and deeper coverage, both of traditionally scientific, technical, economic, and otherwise quantitative knowledge, and of more everyday, popular, and cultural knowledge." The ultimate search engine would, of course, be able to offer a specific (and satisfactory) answer to each and every question asked. It will be interesting to see how close this will get to that dream.

9 Dec 09