Reading and pronouncing math for self-study
Herb Martin
more advanced math (than say, high school, say calculus I),
AND INCLUDES how to pronounce or read it?
This may sound like a trivial issue but when doing self-study
(e.g., vector & complex analysis, number theory, quantum
mechanics) it is frequently difficult to know how to pronounce
or read the 'math line'.
Being able to speak the math line not only aids memory but
also aids understanding, as it eliminates some of the constant
"translation" of the graphical symbols to mental representation.
I can give specific examples but this issue occurs for me
as I pursue a (hobby-like) interest in math.
[I can handle most of the symbols through beginning calculus
because I studied that those with an instructor, but my knowledge
of more advanced math is all self-study. And the Greek alphabet
is no problem as long as it is just pronounced as is found in
a dictionary etc.]
Some examples:
How is the ~L (tilde-L?) read on this page discussing
the Hermitian Operator:
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/HermitianOperator.html
...as well as v- (v-bar?)
...a bit lower (following "Given Hermitian operators ~A and ~B")
I find the following (simulated here) difficult to READ aloud:
<phi | ~A~Bpsi> etc.
Self-Adjoint article on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitian_operator
The Hamiltonian H. Is the cap-H read as "H" or
Hamiltonian, or cap-H etc.
...and how about "the reduced Planck's constant" h-bar?
h-bar = h / (2 pi)
I would also love ANY references to books you find particularly
useful for bootstrapping an intelligent but math-deficient
enthusiast....
Thanks,
--
Herb Martin
Herb Martin
Mathematical Symbols
This table contains mathematical symbols and links to definitions of what
some of them represent.
<http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci803019,00.html>
--
Herb Martin
Larry Lard
Herb Martin wrote:
> Please suggest a book or web site (or other aid) that explains
> more advanced math (than say, high school, say calculus I),
> AND INCLUDES how to pronounce or read it?
This is hard because even the best textbooks generally assume that at
some point you will hear someone who knows how to say these things say
them. For example, I have never seen written down anywhere how to
pronounce 'Lebesgue', and it's not something one is likely to guess
right by chance.
> Some examples:
> How is the ~L (tilde-L?) read on this page discussing
> the Hermitian Operator:
> http://mathworld.wolfram.com/HermitianOperator.html
"Ell tilde", probably. I've had more than one instructor who said
'twiddle', but this is probably a British thing.
> ...as well as v- (v-bar?)
Yes, a horizontal line above a letter is usually 'bar'.
>
> ...a bit lower (following "Given Hermitian operators ~A and ~B")
> I find the following (simulated here) difficult to READ aloud:
>
> <phi | ~A~Bpsi> etc.
This probably involves 'bra' and 'ket', but I never did the quantum
mechanics classes, sorry.
> Self-Adjoint article on Wikipedia:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitian_operator
> The Hamiltonian H. Is the cap-H read as "H" or
> Hamiltonian, or cap-H etc.
Just "H", I think.
> ...and how about "the reduced Planck's constant" h-bar?
> h-bar = h / (2 pi)
"H bar".
> I would also love ANY references to books you find particularly
> useful for bootstrapping an intelligent but math-deficient
> enthusiast....
Recent threads here... where's it gone... aha here we are, try
<http://groups.google.com/group/sci.math/browse_frm/thread/61e74f16b428e119>
and
<http://groups.google.com/group/sci.math/browse_frm/thread/2242fedde465663b>
You can usually get a quick response to pronunciation questions just by
posting here.
--
Larry Lard
Replies to group please
Herb Martin
news:1137751940.3...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> I would also love ANY references to books you find particularly
>> useful for bootstrapping an intelligent but math-deficient
>> enthusiast....
>
> Recent threads here... where's it gone... aha here we are, try
>
> <http://groups.google.com/group/sci.math/browse_frm/thread/61e74f16b428e119>
>
> and
>
> <http://groups.google.com/group/sci.math/browse_frm/thread/2242fedde465663b>
>
> You can usually get a quick response to pronunciation questions just by
> posting here.
Thank you for your kind response.
I appreciate that there is help here, and yet on the issue of
pronunciation/reading I am encountering these faster than
I can even post since my current book is "The Road to Reality"
by Penrose, and everything that helps explain the math he
covers so rapidly and sparingly.
To clarify, I am also searching for the way math is thought,
not just pronounced, e.g.,
In calculus we commonly SAY, "dydx, but THINK "the
derivative of y with respect to x".
At least implicitly.
That is the type of thing I am after in Complex Analysis,
Set and Group theory, Algebraic Topology, and Vector
and Tensor Analysis, etc.
Sometimes just being able to "read it" as it is meant is such
a help in both understanding and in committing it to memory.
One search term that has help me (with Google etc.) is "read as".
By looking for that specific phrase along with terms such as
[ symbols' | notation ] I found a good crop of potential pages
that helped quite a bit.
--
Herb Martin
Herb Martin
download for self-study):
http://www.trillia.com/zakon1.html
Designed to aid in transition from math as manipulation
for more rigorous mathematics....
Answers at least part of my question since it explains
(pretty much) how to read "Set theory" etc. (I haven't
read the other sections yet.)
--
Herb Martin
Robert J. Kolker
> Free book (terms & conditions apply but it is free for
> download for self-study):
>
> http://www.trillia.com/zakon1.html
Connection refused. Why?
Bob Kolker
Herb Martin
news:43hrj1F...@individual.net...
I have no idea; and since you posted and I am answering
almost immediatly my first post:
Just a few minutes ago, I downloaded both of the authors
books from that site. No problem. Also "Number Theory"
book by another author.
--
Herb Martin