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> expectation on HN that all science and math should be made approachable without requisite prior knowledge I doubt anyone expects this, but there are sharp tr
by jacobolus 3y ago
> expectation on HN that all science and math should be made approachable without requisite prior knowledge
I doubt anyone expects this, but there are sharp trade offs involved. The more accessible you make a presentation, the wider the possible audience. With each year of additional technical training you expect, the total audience drops significantly; a math article targeting people whose math training only made it to an introductory calculus course can be read by perhaps 1000 times as many people as a math article with prerequisites from grad-school pure math coursework.
- FabHK 3y agoAnd depending on what audience you're writing for, you might want to say something about the prerequisites. This article didn't (maybe the blog is read mostly by mathematicians or maths students; the author is not necessarily delinquent in their duties). But given that, I outlined some prerequisites so that readers here know what to expect.