Installing Python and numpy on Mac/Windows/Linux

So you're working on the Gravitational Fields chapter and you've reached the Python projects. Don't have Python? Don't have numpy?

Don't worry. Here we've collected some resources on how to install these on your system and get to work.

If you're on Windows, the fastest way to get Python up and running is to download Anaconda. You'll get numpy, scipy, pandas (and a set of other very useful scientific packages) installed on your system and automatically added to your PATH.

Download the installer and follow the instructions on the install page.

After the install is complete, open the command prompt and type jupyter notebook on the terminal line.

Jupyter Notebook is an interactive Python command shell. Opening a new notebook will allow you to edit and execute Python scripts. You can find Jupyter documentation here.

Checking your system

If you're on MacOS, you can search for "Terminal" in Spotlight or in your Applications folder. Open it up, type ls and hit return. You'll see something like this: Python comes pre-installed on MacOS, and so if you type python and hit return, you'll enter the Python interpreter where you can test commands on the fly. The canonical "Not Hello World" example

Installing numpy etc.

The easiest way to obtain numpy is via the Anacondas distribution. If you go here and follow the instructions at Anaconda for MacOS, you'll get numpy, scipy, pandas (and a set of other very useful scientific packages) installed on your system and automatically added to your PATH.

Once the install is complete, open up a Terminal window and enter jupyter notebook in order to open the interactive Python command shell (see the Windows install section for details).

If you're on a Linux distribution, the fastest way to get Python up and running is to install Anaconda.

Download the installer, then follow the instructions on the install page.

Once the install is complete, open up a Terminal window and enter jupyter notebook in order to open the interactive Python command shell (see the Windows install section for details).