"So that's what he meant! Then why didn't he say so?" - Frank Harary, mathematician
What was difficult?
The difficult part of this assignment for me was the amount of small rules that I lived in ignorance of for such a long time that I found it difficult to overcome by bad habits. I've spent a lot of time mixing words and symbols. I've used symbols incorrectly. I also was not aware of "frozen symbols" and therefore have been using them incorrectly for some time. While these rules were difficult, I believe that just being aware of them now will improve the quality of my mathematical writing.
One of the more difficult parts for me was the use of words such as "any, each, every." I did not originally see the difference between these words, but upon reading the chapter I was introduced to the vagueness that "any" carries with it. I understand this, but I believe it is going to be difficult for me to implement its use due to my years of bad mathematical writing practices.
What was interesting?
I think mathematical writing has typically been difficult for me because I never knew what kind of outline to follow, how to plan an outline, or even what an outline for a mathematical assignment was. In this reading, I loved the part about outlining what you would like to do for your assignment. I'd like to write out the steps here, and discuss what I liked about each one:
1. Background and motivation
2. The definitions to be presented and possibly the notation to be used
3. The examples to include
4. The results to be presented
5. References to other results you intend to use
6. The order of everything mentioned above
It's important to start from the beginning. And when a mistake is made, to begin from the beginning. If you missed something, insert the missing material and start over.
I also really liked the part about writing mathematical expressions on page 8. Having studied statistics in school, I have experience in LaTex and am looking forward to being able to use it. I find such things as displays and correct mathematical writing techniques to produce visually pleasing mathematical equations.
The part about using "We" in solving mathematical proofs is great. I have a friend who tells me that I do this very well - that I include people by using words such as we, let's, us, etc.
What was difficult?
The difficult part of this assignment for me was the amount of small rules that I lived in ignorance of for such a long time that I found it difficult to overcome by bad habits. I've spent a lot of time mixing words and symbols. I've used symbols incorrectly. I also was not aware of "frozen symbols" and therefore have been using them incorrectly for some time. While these rules were difficult, I believe that just being aware of them now will improve the quality of my mathematical writing.
One of the more difficult parts for me was the use of words such as "any, each, every." I did not originally see the difference between these words, but upon reading the chapter I was introduced to the vagueness that "any" carries with it. I understand this, but I believe it is going to be difficult for me to implement its use due to my years of bad mathematical writing practices.
What was interesting?
I think mathematical writing has typically been difficult for me because I never knew what kind of outline to follow, how to plan an outline, or even what an outline for a mathematical assignment was. In this reading, I loved the part about outlining what you would like to do for your assignment. I'd like to write out the steps here, and discuss what I liked about each one:
1. Background and motivation
2. The definitions to be presented and possibly the notation to be used
3. The examples to include
4. The results to be presented
5. References to other results you intend to use
6. The order of everything mentioned above
It's important to start from the beginning. And when a mistake is made, to begin from the beginning. If you missed something, insert the missing material and start over.
I also really liked the part about writing mathematical expressions on page 8. Having studied statistics in school, I have experience in LaTex and am looking forward to being able to use it. I find such things as displays and correct mathematical writing techniques to produce visually pleasing mathematical equations.
The part about using "We" in solving mathematical proofs is great. I have a friend who tells me that I do this very well - that I include people by using words such as we, let's, us, etc.
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