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What would happen if we started renaming mathematical objects to reflect changes in the English language? English will continue to evolve, and the vast body of
by tangentspace 8y ago
What would happen if we started renaming mathematical objects to reflect changes in the English language? English will continue to evolve, and the vast body of mathematical literature would have to be constantly rewritten.
Wouldn't that cause much, much greater confusion due to mathematical nomenclature being a moving target rather than remaining stable?
- mrob 8y agoMathematical nomenclature is already a moving target. And the symbols don't have to change, only the English reading of them, e.g. ∫ is from the latin "summa" (sum), but you don't need to know that to read it as "integral"
- tangentspace 8y agoI can't think of any examples of mathematical objects being renamed, do you have any? There may be some amount of drift over time, but you can go to the research library of any university math department and find books from pre-WWII that are still totally readable because although style has shifted somewhat, the basic nomenclature hasn't.