2 ms·
> Could there have been different notations used for things like factoring out a quadratic equation? well, you're talking about high school algebra, but just a
by fsckboy 6y ago
> Could there have been different notations used for things like factoring out a quadratic equation?
well, you're talking about high school algebra, but just adjacent to that is the lisp programming language which uses polish notation. It also uses parentheses because parsing the parentheses-less polish notation requires that the operators have a fixed number of operands
Sussman, co author of SICP and co creator of lisp-like Scheme, has a current idea/book/project he's advocating which is to teach physics using scheme instead of algebraic-calculus because the notation is more precise: rather than differential equations which you need to be skilled at reading, you use polish notation computer programs that can be executed and studied.
- m463 6y agoWell. just. wow. I was just thinking of notation, but making math parsable, or teaching a regular math notation, that should be a thing. I remember hearing generalizations like "chess is pattern matching", and "math is just symbol manipulation", but latter really comes to life if we make math notation regular enough to be funamentally machine readable. Just think what it could do with ai (or for ai)