A Mathematical Atlas | Hacker News Reader

A Mathematical Atlas

math.niu.edu

34 pointsimranq10 comments

What I really want is a mathematical dictionary.

As a non-mathematician it is terribly frustrating to read math, or really any study with significant mathematics, and not know what the specific symbols mean that are assumed to be understood. I mean most spell out the terms for each equation, but do not describe (rightfully so for brevity) the operands.

My math background is not exactly weak (through linear algebra) but the symbols that are in set theory, topology and other disciplines would be really nice to have a reference for.

I have a hard copy of the Princeton Companion to Mathematics and find it incredibly useful -- highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Companion-Mathematics-Timoth...

I prefer the Handbook of Mathematics by Bronstein, which is a math reference bible for most science students in Germany.

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Mathematics-I-N-Bronshtein/dp...

The Bronstein is awesome and it has a fantastic index but I wouldn't call it a dictionary. Moreover it's far from comprehensive regarding to mathematics because it contains mostly topics relevant for engineering, physics and economics.

Vieweg Mathematik Lexikon is good, but in German. There must be something similar in English.

I usually am able to find everything here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mathematical_symbols

I have actually used that page a bunch and thought at some point about using that page as a starting point for a pocket reference.

You comment reminds me of a talk Donald Knuth gave at Google. Someone from the audience asked him what he does if he remembers a mathematical concept vaguely and the name of it escapes him.

Donald Knuth made a big smile an said something along: I'm so and so old, you can bet I have made some friends along that I can call and ask.

My takeaway is: There are mathematical dictionaries, but they are not that useful in many cases.

Funny, the leaves of the tree are emails he's saved from posting to usergroups. I suppose you could create something like this from all your comments e.g. on HN

Nostalgia: "This site last updated (and all links checked) 2002/04/18"

Interestingly, there's no mention of type theory in Foundations or Compuer Science.

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