Wolfram Alpha is a "computational knowledge engine" designed by Wolfram Research, an educational software company best known for producing Mathematica software.  Wolfram|Alpha was launched in 2009.  In 2012, Wolfram Alpha moved from being completely free to a "freemium" model that allows users to query the system, but hides some features, such as saving and graphic data exploration, behind a paywall.

Because it does not connect computed results directly to the original data sources, Wolfram|Alpha is not an ideal resource in terms of accountability and reliability.  However, its databases are compiled by professional researchers, and the strength of its algorithms can quickly pull data that would otherwise take days to find. 

Although it looks very similar to an Internet search engine, Wolfram|Alpha does not search the Internet and does not return webpages as results.  Instead, the tool is designed to parse questions or requests for information and return answers generated from datasets contained within the Wolfram servers.  These datasets cover a huge variety of subject areas, from geology, to history, to current pop culture.  There is no publicly available master list of datasets indexed, a list of topics covered by Wolfram|Alpha datasets can be found at www.wolframalpha.com/examples. Depending on the query submitted, the format of the information returned will vary.  

Much of the Wolfram company's research is focused on mathematics and computation.  Another free resource offered by Wolfram is MathWorld, an online math reference which provides equations and definitions for math terms and concepts.  It covers topics ranging from algebra to calculus to statistics to number theory.

To try Wolfram|Alpha, navigate to wolframalpha.com or use the search box located on the lower left side of this guide.

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