“Take this quote from William Hamilton […]

We belong to opposite poles of algebra; since you… seem to consider Algebra as a ‘System of Signs and of their combinations,’ somewhat analogous to syllogisms expressed in letters; while I am never satisfied unless I think that I can look beyond or through the signs to the things signified.


You catch that? William Hamilton, who gave us our bizarro non-commutative generalization of the complex numbers, didn’t want algebra to be a science of symbols alone.
[…]
In brief: Algebra isn’t just hard for surly teens. It’s hard for anyone with an intellectual commitment to symbols having meanings.”


— Ben Orlin, What’s the use of math history?
https://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2024/11/19/whats-the-use-of-math-history/


#Maths #Mathematics #History





Original: https://toots.dgplug.org/@jason/113513282959520504

#maths, #mathematics, #history


People spend too much time on the last 24 hours and not enough time on the last 6,000 years.
— Will Durant


via the #FarnamStreet newsletter, https://fs.blog/brain-food/may-19-2024/


#Life #History #LifeLessons




Original: https://toots.dgplug.org/@jason/112467327590321757

#FarnamStreet, #life, #history, #lifelessons


— Jean-Louis Gassée, Grateful Geek


6/6


#Books #ComputerHistory #History #Reading #mjbReading




Original: https://toots.dgplug.org/@jason/110971873974543520

#books, #computerhistory, #history, #reading, #mjbreading