3 ms·
> Why is it that every time any subject about mathematics comes up there is always a complaint about notation? The assumption that there is a much better notat
by BeetleB 5y ago
> Why is it that every time any subject about mathematics comes up there is always a complaint about notation?
The assumption that there is a much better notation is one I tend to see only with the HN crowd. Outside of this group, even people who dislike the notation and/or struggle with math do not claim that a better/simpler one obviously exists.
- openfuture 5y agoYep, blaming your tools is what the incompetent do.
- dr_dshiv 5y agoBlaming the user is also what the incompetent do.
- boppo1 5y agoI really only think calculus notation is an issue. Calc 1 books absolutely demand that you view d/dx as an operator and not a ratio, likewise with the dummy variable and integration symbol. Then later the book teaches about unit normals and it’s implicitly acceptable and treat dx/dz and dy/dz as ratios. i.e. |u X v| = (1 + (dx/dz)^2 + (dy/dz)^2)^(1/2) = (dz^2 + dx^2 + dy^2)^(1/2). This was extremely frustrating to me for a while until I accepted that this was how Leibniz did it, so if it’s good enough for him it’s good enough for me.