The text includes introductory tutorials in each chapter combined with extensive marginal comments which are followed by a complete application. The book also provides a special application to enable students to use "self help" in the case that Maple seem unable to do the simplest things.

1 Turning On: Hints.- 2 Structures and Analysis: Help.- 3 Manipulations, Procedures and Plots.- 4 Applications: Field Data.- 5 Simultaneous Solutions: Matrices.- 6 Active Plotting and Spreadsheets.- AAArgh->.- Restricted Access.- Help through Maple’s help system.- Help with a Package.- A Package as a Table.- A Listing of Exercises.- Improvised Routines.

From the reviews of the first edition: "This book is a nice exercise-based introduction to Maple with applications in different fields of environmental sciences. From the first steps to quite sophisticated techniques and worksheet handling, the reader can learn the most important features of Maple through solving practical problems. … I can warmly recommend the book to everyone who would like to learn and use Maple as a tool in the everyday work. The applications and examples make it especially useful for applied study, research or practical work in life science." (János Karsai, Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum, Vol. 69, 2003) "This is a kind of cookbook on how to use Maple … and on how this most useful language can be used in a specific area of environmental sciences. It is a very practical book, full of worked examples, exercises and lots of references to other books, journals and websites. … The book is very clearly written, nicely presented and well illustrated. … it is a must for … readers who specialize in the author’s specific field of environmental sciences." (R. Hauspie, International Journal of Environment and Pollution, Vol. 18 (4), 2002)