lcamtuf   Sep 3, 2024
Ah yes, I remember buying that textbook
Show threadJeffrey GoldbergSep 3, 2024

@lcamtuf, Chapter 1 defines numbers, some common mathematical notation, and a few other things that give you hope that you can read this book.

You might get through Chapter two.

By Chapter 3, you,put it on the shelve with all your other Springer textbooks.

Show threadjonathankoren™Sep 3, 2024

@jpgoldberg @lcamtuf Springer books are like the math entries on Wikipedia. They’re both places where people are in a competition to make themselves as baroque and not just esoteric, but practically occult as possible.

Now excuse me, I have to finish replacing the word “one”with“unity”

Show threadJohn Carlos BaezSep 7, 2024
@jonathankoren - they're actually not trying to be baroque, they are just mathematicians talking the only way they know how. I know: I'm a mathematician, and I find these entries generally quite clear. The problem is, it's hard to get mathematicians to write in ways that nonmathematicians can understand. At least the first paragraph should be aimed at everyone.
Show threadjonathankoren™Sep 7, 2024
@johncarlosbaez
*Stares in “sums to unity”*
Show threadJohn Carlos BaezSep 7, 2024
@jonathankoren - sums to unity, adds to one - same thing to us weirdos. Feel free to change it to "sums to one"!
Show threadMark DominusSep 8, 2024

@johncarlosbaez @jonathankoren I thought the reason for that was that "sums to one" invites the question "sums to one what?"

In some contexts it could be really misleading. "a series of dyadic fractions that sums to one" could mean "a series of dyadic fractions that sums to unity" or "a series of dyadic fractions that sums to a dyadic fraction".

Show threadJohn Carlos Baez
@mjd @jonathankoren - okay, that's a decent reason for using "sums to unity". I would never dream of interpreting "sums to one" to mean "sums to one of those things I was just talking about", and anyone using it to mean that is really asking for trouble. But I agree that it's good to completely eliminate ambiguity when writing math.
Sep 8, 2024 at 4:28pmWeb
Show threadMark DominusSep 8, 2024
@johncarlosbaez @jonathankoren I think it dates from a time when grammatical patterns were different: sentences were longer and distant anaphoras were more common. Also a time when the unambiguous "sums to 1" would have looked more uncouth.