.* sounds like "dot product", while * is the common product on the field. also, matlab seemed very inconsistent to me from what i've heard (especially when it comes to naming and function arguments).

what about python? you could use its power and write a latex/mathml exporter for the command line history. just a thought. i don't want to discourage you.

edit: mathematica (and python, by the way) has arbitrary precision.
edit2: and mathematica has latex and mathml output. don't you get a license at your university?