Maxima是一款GPL协议下发布的开放源代码计算机代数系统（Computer Algebra System, CAS），跨平台。软件的前身是MIT的Macsyma，后来由Bill Schelter教授逐渐开发一个开放源代码版本的Macsyma，即Maxima。Schelter教授于2001年去世，软件在GPL协议下逐渐成长。

软件主页：
http://maxima.sourceforge.net/

英文介绍：
Maxima is a system for the manipulation of symbolic and numerical expressions, including differentiation, integration, Taylor series, Laplace transforms, ordinary differential equations, systems of linear equations, polynomials, and sets, lists, vectors, matrices, and tensors. Maxima yields high precision numeric results by using exact fractions, arbitrary precision integers, and variable precision floating point numbers. Maxima can plot functions and data in two and three dimensions.

The Maxima source code can be compiled on many systems, including Windows, Linux, and MacOS X. The source code for all systems and precompiled binaries for Windows and Linux are available at the SourceForge file manager.

Maxima is a descendant of Macsyma, the legendary computer algebra system developed in the late 1960s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is the only system based on that effort still publicly available and with an active user community, thanks to its open source nature. Macsyma was revolutionary in its day, and many later systems, such as Maple and Mathematica, were inspired by it.

The Maxima branch of Macsyma was maintained by William Schelter from 1982 until he passed away in 2001. In 1998 he obtained permission to release the source code under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It was his efforts and skill which have made the survival of Maxima possible, and we are very grateful to him for volunteering his time and expert knowledge to keep the original DOE Macsyma code alive and well. Since his passing a group of users and developers has formed to bring Maxima to a wider audience.

We are constantly updating Maxima, to fix bugs and improve the code and the documentation. We welcome suggestions and contributions from the community of Maxima users.