tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775513617406888811.post6439931913531438039..comments2023-07-10T03:59:11.612-04:00Comments on Math Horizon's Aftermath: Unduly NotedMathematical Association of Americahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559021045290192742noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775513617406888811.post-15357844461104131802012-03-27T21:50:06.390-04:002012-03-27T21:50:06.390-04:00So instead of $\sin x$, I should type $\sin \left(...So instead of $\sin x$, I should type $\sin \left( x \right)$? And although I prefer $\sin^2 x$, I encourage my students to write $\left( \sin x \right)^2$, now you're telling me to write $\left( \sin \left( x \right) \right)^2$. What we need is a definitive guide from a typesetter to let us know what's proper. We all have peeves (inverse notation for me), but we need a consistent style guide for both written and typeset work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775513617406888811.post-48312232218314933862012-03-05T11:18:06.244-05:002012-03-05T11:18:06.244-05:00Tommy, I've been ranting about this for YEARS....Tommy, I've been ranting about this for YEARS. Way to go! I don't know if I agree about \sin^2 and \sin^{-1}, since they are so ubiquitous, but it's way better than the alternative of sin x.Karl-Dieter Crismannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775513617406888811.post-38356683844812618272012-02-12T22:07:53.832-05:002012-02-12T22:07:53.832-05:00Apropos Tommy Ratcliff's lament for explicit (...Apropos Tommy Ratcliff's lament for explicit ( & ) vis-a-vis implicit - - - Back in the pre-transistor days - - - when FORTRAN first came out - - - at the Bell Labs the failure to make explicit in FORTRAN - - - multiplication that wasn't so in the math expression - - - was the major source of user coding errors for some time - - - a few years later - - - when discussing with Jonh Kemeny of Dartmouth the Fortran alternative he was developing - - - BASIC - - - we thrashed over several times this issue of implicit operations in math expressions having most likely to be annoyingly explicit in any programming language - - - Duncan Morrill, Merrimack, NH - - - WV1J@QSL.NETAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775513617406888811.post-59086196195064511442012-02-09T15:22:12.792-05:002012-02-09T15:22:12.792-05:00I have been a math professor for three years. I h...I have been a math professor for three years. I have been writing arcsin(x), arccos(x), arctan(x), etc. ever since one of my own undergraduate professors pointed out to me the ambiguity in the sin^{-1}(x) notation. Thank you for pointing out the need to rid ourselves of this unnecessary distraction for our students.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com