And so it has been now for nearly 24 years.Īs Mathematica was being developed, we showed it to Steve Jobs quite often. But in the end I agreed that, yes, Mathematica was a good name. Well, it went back and forth for a while. His favorite example at the time was Sony’s Trinitron. I asked Steve why he thought it was good, and he told me his theory for a name was to start from the generic term for something, then romanticize it. I’d actually considered that name, but rejected it. But then one day he said to me: “You should call it Mathematica”. For a while he wouldn’t suggest anything. I gave him lists of names I’d considered, and pressed him for his suggestions.

At first it had been Omega (yes, like Alpha) and later PolyMath.

Actually, it wasn’t yet called Mathematica then, and one of the big topics of discussion was what it should be called. Over the months after our first meeting, I had all sorts of interactions with Steve about Mathematica. I don’t now remember the details of our first meeting, but at the end of it, Steve gave me his business card, which tonight I found duly still sitting in my files. A mutual friend had made the introduction, and Steve Jobs wasted no time in saying that he was planning to make the definitive computer for higher education, and he wanted Mathematica to be part of it. I first met Steve Jobs in 1987, when he was quietly building his first NeXT computer, and I was quietly building the first version of Mathematica.

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