From: wild_dj@mit.edu (Jake Wildstrom)
Newsgroups: alt.math.recreational,rec.puzzles,sci.math
Subject: Re: Poor English
Date: 15 Dec 1998 02:10:52 GMT

[deletia -- djr]

But regarding writing skills> First of all, a nitpicky detail. English hardly
has _any_ grammar, inasmuch as grammar is characterized by word inflections,
declensions, conjugations, etc. English has loads of syntax though, syntax
being word order.

However, an elementary grasp of syntax _and_ grammar, I think, is necessary for
anything but the most rudimentary mathematics. Part of math is expressing ideas
clearly, and it's hard to do that hampered by inadequate grasp of the language.
I do sympathize with non-native speakers (although in my experience some of the
worst offenders have been native speakers of English). In math, even more than
in other fields, precise descriptions are necessary, and the two greatest
problems are,in my opinion, problems with plurality and misplaced modifiers.
For instance, the sentance:

        Consider a set S of elements s_1, s_2, s_3, s_4, s_5,... s_n, whose
        intersections with A and B are disjoint.

This is grammatically correct, but I can interpret it at least 4 ways, and
justifiably so:

1)	(S int A) int (S int B)=0

2)	(s_1 int A) int (s_1 int B) int (s_2 int A) int ... int (s_n int B)=0

3)	For all i in [1,n], (s_i int A) int (s_i int B)=0

4)	For all i,j in [1,n], and C,D in {A,B}, (s_i int C) int (s_j int D)=0

Of these, (1) is completely different, (4) implies (3), and (3) implies (2).

So there's more than just good mechanics. There's also good writing.

+--First Church of Briantology--Order of the Holy Quaternion--+
| A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into         |
| theorems.              -Paul Erdos                          |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|                       Jake Wildstrom                        |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+