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Babbage's guidelines for the design of mathematical notations.
- Source :
-
Studies in history and philosophy of science [Stud Hist Philos Sci] 2021 Aug; Vol. 88, pp. 92-101. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jun 02. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- The design of good notation is a cause that was dear to Charles Babbage's heart throughout his career. He was convinced of the "immense power of signs" (1864, 364), both to rigorously express complex ideas and to facilitate the discovery of new ones. As a young man, he promoted the Leibnizian notation for the calculus in England, and later he developed a Mechanical Notation for designing his computational engines. In addition, he reflected on the principles that underlie the design of good mathematical notations. In this paper, we discuss these reflections, which can be found somewhat scattered in Babbage's writings, for the first time in a systematic way. Babbage's desiderata for mathematical notations are presented as ten guidelines pertinent to notational design and its application to both individual symbols and complex expressions. To illustrate the applicability of these guidelines in non-mathematical domains, some aspects of his Mechanical Notation are also discussed.<br /> (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- England
Humans
Male
Mathematics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0039-3681
- Volume :
- 88
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Studies in history and philosophy of science
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34089995
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2021.03.001