I vividly remember once reading (or hearing?) a claim that the level of a mathematical text is inversely proportional to the $$ \boxed{\text{density of boxed formulas}}. $$ Now I can’t find/remember where nor even in which language it was. Would MO’s collective memory come to the rescue?
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
2
-
4$\begingroup$ Last week, I happened to be looking at Spivak, the book on AmS-TeX, and the quote was in there (in English). Unfortunately, I misplaced it, so I can't give the explicit reference. But I don't think he used the word density, rather the number of, and didn't box it either. $\endgroup$David Handelman– David Handelman2025-08-27 22:04:53 +00:00Commented Aug 27 at 22:04
-
$\begingroup$ @DavidHandelman That's it, perfect, thank you!! $\endgroup$Francois Ziegler– Francois Ziegler2025-08-27 23:36:56 +00:00Commented Aug 27 at 23:36
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
9
From Spivak, The Joy of Tex does not use the word density
$$ \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc $$
$$ \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc \bigcirc $$
Next, scanned from a library copy at Sedgley Park College, Prestwich, Manchester,
-
1$\begingroup$ Thanks!! (I tried to comment earlier but somehow it wouldn’t go through.) $\endgroup$Francois Ziegler– Francois Ziegler2025-08-28 01:39:14 +00:00Commented Aug 28 at 1:39
-
$\begingroup$ @FrancoisZiegler you're welcome. There is a related quote in a different(?) book, in which the author says not to overuse boxes, that he has not used any boxes in his book. I can't seem to find that one $\endgroup$Will Jagy– Will Jagy2025-08-28 02:58:10 +00:00Commented Aug 28 at 2:58
-
1$\begingroup$ True to his word, Spivak does use boxed statements in his Calculus book, but not in Calculus on Manifolds. However, there are some boxed formulas in his differential geometry volumes. $\endgroup$Matthew Leingang– Matthew Leingang2025-08-28 17:09:15 +00:00Commented Aug 28 at 17:09
-
$\begingroup$ @MatthewLeingang you are wise. I put in a page from Calculus that has boxes $\endgroup$Will Jagy– Will Jagy2025-08-28 19:41:10 +00:00Commented Aug 28 at 19:41
-
2$\begingroup$ @MatthewLeingang Presumably by the time a student has finished Spivak's Calculus, they have learned to *think outside the box" ... $\endgroup$Bill Dubuque– Bill Dubuque2025-08-29 01:26:53 +00:00Commented Aug 29 at 1:26