[HN Gopher] What's Wrong with these Equations? (1989) [pdf]
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       What's Wrong with these Equations? (1989) [pdf]
        
       Author : sieste
       Score  : 27 points
       Date   : 2022-02-03 13:32 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.pamitc.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.pamitc.org)
        
       | susam wrote:
       | Found a couple of links to the complete scanned copies of this
       | article:
       | 
       | - http://www.pamitc.org/documents/mermin.pdf (colour but slightly
       | cropped)
       | 
       | - http://www.ai.mit.edu/courses/6.899/papers/mermin.pdf (black
       | and white full pages)
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Changed to the first one from
         | https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.2811173.
         | Thanks!
        
       | gradschool wrote:
       | As a former technical writer, I suggest that the "math is prose"
       | rule is valid only under the assumption of mathematically minded
       | readers. To normal people, an equation or other mathematical
       | expression might as well be one of those black blocks in a
       | redacted government document. How are they supposed to know that
       | a set membership symbol or a logical implication arrow should be
       | read as a verb? It's not much extra effort to treat expressions
       | as nouns by writing "we conclude that p -> q holds whenever x and
       | y are the same" instead of "we conclude p -> q iff x = y", and
       | doing so may make the difference for some readers between missing
       | a few details and feeling completely excluded.
        
       | ivan_ah wrote:
       | I disagree with the number-every-equation rule (Rule 1). It
       | sounds like the math equivalent to adding extra complexity to
       | code so it will be "ready" for extension in the future.
       | 
       | I prefer to number only the important equations that the reader
       | really needs to know and focus on, and remember. Thus appearance
       | of the equation number signals to the reader "this is important."
       | If I were to number every equation, I'd be losing this
       | communication signal.
       | 
       | In fact I find mainstream textbooks (for undergraduates) to be
       | really overwhelming with the visual elements (colors, boxes,
       | extra emphasis). If you flip through a physics or a calculus
       | textbook you'll see all kinds of boxes that call for your
       | attention: THIS IS IMPORTANT, THIS IS IMPORTANT, etc. one on
       | every page, but in the end when everything is important, nothing
       | is.
       | 
       | In fact every chapter has one or two main equations that you
       | really need to know. Put those in a box, and number them if you
       | want, but leave all the other "anecdotes," derivations, and
       | special cases unaccented please.
        
       | rawoke083600 wrote:
       | Good rule. If I may add a derivative rule about coding articles
       | and tutorials.
       | 
       | Please please put filenames to each and every code snippet.
       | 
       | Example working with any modern js-stack there are a gazillion
       | (ok not really) files to keep track of: package.json,main js,
       | index.js, app.js etc etc.
       | 
       | Another example: Any language that uses some sort of modules.
       | 
       | Knowing what the filename is of code-module-snippet makes it much
       | easier for an outsider or newcomer to understand the context and
       | actual article.
       | 
       | ok rant over :)
        
         | coldpie wrote:
         | Yeah my brain immediately went to how/if this should be applied
         | to code listings, too. A while back I wrote an article[1] that
         | used somewhat lengthy chunks of C code, which I felt could not
         | be abbreviated. I ended up highlighting the lines which I
         | discussed later in bold, a different color, and with a
         | reference number in brackets, to which the prose referred. I
         | could maybe have done line numbers, which I think is the
         | closest match to what this article proposes, but it's a bit
         | tricky because I wanted to refer to multiple lines when
         | discussing some subjects. I'm satisfied with how I did it, but
         | I still wonder if there's a better option.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.smokingonabike.com/2021/02/28/hacking-super-
         | monk...
        
       | PaulHoule wrote:
       | Dave Mermin is one of my famous profs, one of very few who will
       | stop to look around and see what is really going on when
       | everybody else is too busy publishing and perishing.
        
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