How to Write Mathematics by Norman E. Steenrod (PDF)

Description

Contains four essays on expository writing of books and papers at the research level and at the level of graduate texts.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The project of producing this book was troubled from the start, as is described in the preface. Halmos almost immediately wanted to resign from the group, and published his own essay independently. The rest of the authors followed in writing their own essays, with virtually no collaboration. The project dragged on for a few years and Steenrod died before finishing his piece. The end result is this somewhat disjointed collection.That said, the collection has some very good content. Steenrod draws a clear distinction between formal and informal content, addressing important issues of global and local organization for each. Halmos’ essay is by far the most thorough, covering everything from content to audience to organization and writing (he advocates an interesting O(n^2) “spiral” writing algorithm) to fine points of language and symbolism. Schiffer examines differences between several types of expository writing: research paper, monograph, survey, and textbook. Dieudonné’s essay is the only disappointment, consisting of three short paragraphs of remarks about the previous articles. Could he not have bothered to develop his own thoughts in a little more detail? Or perhaps provide some insight into his own writing process for masterful works like the Bourbaki texts or his Treatise on Analysis? A wasted opportunity.I don’t think these essays really belong in the same book. But the essays (aside from Dieudonné’s) are good, and the book conveniently collects them, so for that reason I recommend the book.

⭐This book gives information on how to write mathematics papers for publication. I was interested in reading it, and other such books giving advice on how to write mathematics, because I was writing a paper on the genre of proof (now published). I expect it would also be helpful if you were new to writing mathematics for publication.

⭐It’s an interesting book for someone who like mathematics.

⭐Well written as a short guide to Mathematics for authors.

⭐good

⭐The various authors of “How to Write Mathematics” set out to describe their own personal writing styles, beginning with an admission that there is a lack of consensus on this topic. Indeed, the book closes with a couple of pages by the last author critiquing the advice of the first. On including detailed proofs in your publications, for example, you will find one author prescribing and another proscribing the practice.The essays were written independently and this shows in the overlap and the contradictions. Whereas I have been highly critical of multi-author books in the past, the approach seems to work in this collection. Recalling my own efforts in writing a book on a topic within another field, I found myself agreeing or disagreeing with the authors on the various points. I was relieved to note that as early as at least three decades ago, authors before me shared identical conflicts with editors and copyreaders.Based on my limited experience in writing, I had developed a number of half-formed rules of thumb. Given the recommendations of writers more experienced than I as so boldly presented, I am likely to be more aggressive in applying these rules. I would recommend this book to those authors with at least a few writing efforts under their belts. Given the specific nature of the examples in the essays, however, it is likely that only mathematicians will fully appreciate this book.

⭐This short booklet contains four essays about how to write mathematics papers and books. The essays by Steenrod and Halmos, two prominent figures of 20th century mathematics, stand out for their common sense, depth and lucidity. They bring forth essential strategic issues, such as the need to maintain a clear separation between the formal and informal parts of mathematical papers, as well as useful tactical issues such as choosing notation. In my opinion, the essays transcend the field of mathematics, and the principles that they delineate are applicable to all areas of scientific writing.

Keywords

Free Download How to Write Mathematics in PDF format
How to Write Mathematics PDF Free Download
Download How to Write Mathematics 1973 PDF Free
How to Write Mathematics 1973 PDF Free Download
Download How to Write Mathematics PDF
Free Download Ebook How to Write Mathematics