ABSTRACT
In the beginning (i.e., freshman mathematics), there is algebra and there
is analysis. Analysis, the fledgling mathematician learns, is algebra with
limits. Algebra is easy in the early stages; analysis is hard from the get-
go-the reason being those limits. As the name suggests, computer al-
gebra systems (CASs), such as Mathematica or Maple, are designed to
do algebra. They can also do calculus, because it is mostly a matter of
algebraic manipulations according to prescribed rules. But can a CAS do
analysis, the subject that lifts the hood on calculus and explains how it
works? What that question really comes down to is: how well does a CAS
handle limits? More generally, can the methods of experimental mathe-
matics help us with the underlying problems of analysis, namely handling
questions about sequences and series? As we shall see, the answer is that
CASs and the methods of experimental mathematics can be of consider-
able assistance when faced with an infinite sequence, an infinite series, or
an infinite product.
