WolframAlpha is essentially an Internet search engine, in the same manner that Google is an Internet search engine. But WolframAlpha focuses on computational searches, and is simply astonishing in the depth of information it can present, and in the form that presentation takes. I have wasted long stretches of time playing with this search engine. The elegance of the site makes me wish I had become a scientist rather than a lawyer, just so I would know more questions to ask of it.
Go to the site and watch the video demo – there’s a link to the video down on the right side of the home page. Here is the statement of goals from the site:
Goals
Wolfram|Alpha’s long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. Our goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries.
Wolfram|Alpha aims to bring expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels. Our goal is to accept completely free-form input, and to serve as a knowledge engine that generates powerful results and presents them with maximum clarity.
Wolfram|Alpha is an ambitious, long-term intellectual endeavor that we intend will deliver increasing capabilities over the years and decades to come. With a world-class team and participation from top outside experts in countless fields, our goal is to create something that will stand as a major milestone of 21st century intellectual achievement.
Sorry, but Wolfram|Alpha isn’t a search engine. It doesn’t search anything on the web. All data it computes is on its own server. The below two quotes are from a video on newsy.com, but I think they sum up Wolfram pretty well (both its strengths and weaknesses).
“Well first of all its not a search engine, it’s a computational knowledge engine. Roughly translated, that means that this site, Wolfram Alpha figures out results for you based on its own databases, not by scanning the web. In some cases the data’s pretty extensive. Mathematical information, there’s physics searches you can do, historical data.” (CNN)
“Data on my search result page indicated that, in 2003, global human activity led to 27 Gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions. But it also indicated that, in 2000, the US produced 40 Gigatons during cement production alone. One of these has got to be wrong, and Alpha gives you absolutely no way of finding out which …” (Ars Technica)
You’re absolutely right Daniel. I was lazy in my description. I should have said Wolfram|Alpha has the “appearance” of a search engine like Google. I understand that if the information is not in the database you get an error message. That happened to me several times as I was doing my “searches” at the site. However it works though, it’s still an amazing creation, and potentially of great use. As the database is expanded and refined (and corrected), the value will increase.