Symbols for names - Revision history

Benrbray at 16:33, 12 July 2021

2021-07-12T16:33:01Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:33, 12 July 2021
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	An alternate tack is to use Greek letters \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), \(\delta\), and so on: the convention seems to be to use those in the standard order.		An alternate tack is to use Greek letters \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), \(\delta\), and so on: the convention seems to be to use those in the standard order.

	~~==Diacritics~~

	==References==		==References==
	<references/>		<references/>

Benrbray at 16:32, 12 July 2021

2021-07-12T16:32:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:32, 12 July 2021
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	[[Category:Unpleasantness]]		[[Category:Unpleasantness]]
			[[Category:Variable Names]]

	There are many conventions to do with naming things. This page might split into several when it gets big enough.		There are many conventions to do with naming things. This page might split into several when it gets big enough.
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	An alternate tack is to use Greek letters \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), \(\delta\), and so on: the convention seems to be to use those in the standard order.		An alternate tack is to use Greek letters \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), \(\delta\), and so on: the convention seems to be to use those in the standard order.

			==Diacritics

	==References==		==References==
	<references/>		<references/>

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 13:56, 6 July 2021

2021-07-06T13:56:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:56, 6 July 2021
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	For reasons that aren't completely clear, \(x\) is normally used for the first variable, then \(y\) and \(z\). After that, some go to \(u\), \(v\) and \(w\).		For reasons that aren't completely clear, \(x\) is normally used for the first variable, then \(y\) and \(z\). After that, some go to \(u\), \(v\) and \(w\).

			Florian Cajori says that Descartes is responsible for starting at \(x\)<ref>[http://archive.org/details/historyofmathema031756mbp/page/n399/mode/2up?view=theater Section 340. in ''A History of Mathematical Notations''] by Florian Cajori</ref>. The start of the alphabet should be used for known quantities, and the end for unknowns. Cajori gives a few dubious explanations for why \(x\) is more common than \(z\).

	An alternate tack is to use Greek letters \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), \(\delta\), and so on: the convention seems to be to use those in the standard order.		An alternate tack is to use Greek letters \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), \(\delta\), and so on: the convention seems to be to use those in the standard order.

Christian Lawson-Perfect at 13:05, 6 July 2021

2021-07-06T13:05:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:05, 6 July 2021
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			[[Category:Unpleasantness]]

	There are many conventions to do with naming things. This page might split into several when it gets big enough.		There are many conventions to do with naming things. This page might split into several when it gets big enough.

	Mathematicians tend to use single Latin letters to name things, when they can. A common consequence of this is that the author runs out of symbols, so needs to look to other alphabets or [[use of different typefaces to convey meaning]].		==Symbol exhaustion==

			Mathematicians tend to use single Latin or Greek letters to name things, when they can. A common consequence of this is that the author runs out of symbols, so needs to look to other alphabets or [[use of different typefaces to convey meaning]].

			Once you've exhausted all the alphabets you know, you should take a long hard look at yourself, but you might feel tempted to start using non-letter symbols.

			This question on academia.stackexchange.com<ref>[https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/170398/what-are-the-potential-pitfalls-of-using-non-greek-non-european-characters-as-sy "What are the potential pitfalls of using non-Greek/non-European characters as symbol in scientific writing?"]</ref> asks whether it's OK to use symbols from other character sets for names. The highest-scoring reply points out that using more symbols makes the material harder to read.

			==Starting at \(x\)==

			For reasons that aren't completely clear, \(x\) is normally used for the first variable, then \(y\) and \(z\). After that, some go to \(u\), \(v\) and \(w\).

	~~Once you've exhausted all the alphabets you know~~, ~~you should take a long hard look at yourself~~, but you might feel tempted to start using non-letter symbols.<ref>[https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/170398/what-are-the-potential-pitfalls-of-using-non-greek-non-european-characters-as-sy question on ~~academia Stack Exchange~~: ~~"What are~~ the ~~potential pitfalls of using non-Greek/non-European characters as symbol~~ in ~~scientific writing?"]</ref>~~		An alternate tack is to use Greek letters \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\gamma\), \(\delta\), and so on: the convention seems to be to use those in the standard order.

	==References==		==References==
	<references/>		<references/>

Christian Lawson-Perfect: Created page with "There are many conventions to do with naming things. This page might split into several when it gets big enough. Mathematicians tend to use single Latin letters to name thing..."

2021-07-06T12:56:30Z

Created page with "There are many conventions to do with naming things. This page might split into several when it gets big enough. Mathematicians tend to use single Latin letters to name thing..."

New page

There are many conventions to do with naming things. This page might split into several when it gets big enough.

Mathematicians tend to use single Latin letters to name things, when they can. A common consequence of this is that the author runs out of symbols, so needs to look to other alphabets or [[use of different typefaces to convey meaning]].

Once you've exhausted all the alphabets you know, you should take a long hard look at yourself, but you might feel tempted to start using non-letter symbols.<ref>[https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/170398/what-are-the-potential-pitfalls-of-using-non-greek-non-european-characters-as-sy question on academia Stack Exchange: "What are the potential pitfalls of using non-Greek/non-European characters as symbol in scientific writing?"]</ref>

==References==
<references/>