That Wiki page raises more questions than answers, and anyway it's not what I had in mind.
But thanks for the link. I do appreciate your effort.
Like I said, I have conceded defeat on the matter.
Oh God yes they have, from the Phoenicians through the Greeks and Hebrews, Shin to Sigma to S, all the Roman capitals, the Cyrillic alphabet, even the Cherokee syllabary ... there are histories of western writing systems, books about typefaces and letterforms, calligraphy manuals, analyses of...
Evidently. As enlightening as this all is, it is also frustrating.
So as long as I get my meaning across, it doesn't matter how I spell and punctuate my formulae? Langauge and music have rules for writing, but math has no rules as long as the reader interprets my notation correctly? See...
I still keep expecting somebody to say, "Well there's a Reference Of Mathematical Notation by Joe Bloe at [some URL] and Amazon.com has the Compleat Dictionary Of Math Symbols & Their Usages for sale for $9.99."
Yeh but apparently there is no list whatsoever, except the briefest of lists of what each symbol means, which is tantamount to a chart of the alphabet with the sounds each letter makes.
Where, for example, has anybody ever described how upper & lower limits can be specified or omitted/implied...
So all of these "common usages" and "common shorthands" are passed down by word of mouth? or at best written singly in scattered explanatory texts, but not compiled somewhere?
I see a trend emerging.
That is a matter of rhetoric, which I grant is open to a lot of subjectivity, interpretation...
I will examine this book. Thank you!
I've found "how to write math into sentences for papers" guidelines on the web. It's not entirely what I was after.
Still, thanks for the referral!
Because I'm a writer. I want to write the math properly. I'm sorry if I have become annoying, but I did kinda assume that some other people might also care* about prescribed rules of notation and maybe be able to point me at them.
* [Edit: Sorry if that sounded critical. If you don't care...
Normally I am an above-average web searcher.
But I cannot find any significant guide to mathematical notation.
(I should head over to the university library. I love that place.)
I find it hard to believe there's just NOT one out there! :confused:
(Putting it up in LATEX just for giggles ...)
\sum_{P=1}^I \frac{\left(P+S-1\right)!}{\left(S-1\right)!} = \sum_{P=1}^I \prod_{i=S}^{P+S-1} i
Heh. Looks like Latex requires some "parens" (actually curly braces, which don't render) in the product's upper limit:
\prod_{i=S}^{P+S-1} i...
That would be the "order of operations" rule, right? which is basically a PUNCTUATION rule ... where to put your parentheses.
A comprehensive (:tongue2:) collection of such rules is what I seek.
Clarity, yes, I understand there must not be ambiguity in formulae. So I'm glad you say my notation is unambiguous. Thank you! Nothing like a little validation, even from a complete stranger! :smile:
In language, ambiguity is also a concern, but punctuation/spelling/grammar are concerns...
LOL because how did you know it was the lower limit on the product that's off by 1, rather than the factorial denominator on the left? In fact the number I am describing is correct in the sum of factorials, and yes the sum of products was the one that was off. But couldn't it have been the other...
You mean like this? (attached)
I just caught that error myself, yeh. :grumpy:
But my main question was, is the "Sum Of Products" notation correct (even if my math was wrong).
I don't have much experience writing in math notation so I just wonder if I have it typeset correctly. Does it...