Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Algebra as arithmetic on names
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: February 1, 2010
Arithmetic on names Algebra is powerful because it allows us, among other things, to do arithmetic on the names of variables or unknown quantities and find specific numerical values for those variables or unknowns. If, as some people assert (wrongly, in my view) that mathematics is only a language, then it is a very peculiar […]
Is commutativity of multiplication a natural concept?
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: January 30, 2010
This post is a response to a tweet of Chiara Maieron, and a follow-up from Christopher Simpson. The original tweet was: “chiamai @republicofmath Heard kid who could multiply 4*9 but had troubles w 9*4 and wondered if commutativity concept is natural for math students ” My initial response was that it depends on the kid’s […]
