The Playful Language of Math

The Playful Language of
Math
Abhijit Mehta
Writing 20, Fall 2002
The Language of Math and Physics
Nice
Strange
Trivial
Flavor
Charm
Quark
Elegant
Well-Behaved
How can a function be nice?


Mathematicians and
physicists like to use
common words to
describe common
ideas
BUT - Popular
stereotypes say that
mathematicians and
physicists are boring
and uncreative
This is not only wrong.
It is ridiculous!
Mathematicians and physicists are
playful, and their language shows it

The use of common
words shows a familiar,
playful attitude towards
complex things.

The invention / adaptation
of words into modern
physics underscores this
 Quark
 Strange
 Charm
Developing My Project

Initially: topic for a short assignment


Agenda Shift

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Started as a basic description of vocabulary
Evolved to an analysis of how this vocabulary reflects
a playful attitude in math and physics
Added examples to show how words originate


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Pointed out the humorous misunderstanding that
math and physics lingo can cause
IMO Example
Modern Physicists and Quarks
Brought me into my essay

Describing mathematicians and physicists in terms of
“us” and “we” rather than “they” and “them”
The shift of my agenda

D1 – Mere description


Mathematicians and physicists often use
common words to express ideas that are very
complex.
D2/D3 – Analysis: Playfulness

The migration of these words from common
usage to their specialized usage conveys
some of the playful attitude that
mathematicians and physicists have towards
abstract, complex problems.
From description to playfulness
D1

As our society becomes more
dependant on technology, the work of
mathematicians and physicists comes
closer to everyday experience. In
order to have a basic understanding of
many modern issues and
technologies, people need to become
more familiar with the language of
math and science. However,
mathematicians and physicists have a
tendancy to use common words in a
strange way. In math and physics,
nice, elegant, trivial, well-behaved,
charm, flavor, strange, and quark all
have meanings that can be very
different from their everyday
meanings. Mathematicians and
physicists often use common words to
express ideas that are very complex.
D3

I find that even in our technologically
dependant society, mathematicians
and physicists are often
misunderstood. Many people label us
as unimaginative, dull and humorless.
However, mathematicians and
physicists actually make creative use
of common words to describe complex
things. For us, nice, elegant, trivial,
well-behaved, charm, flavor, and
strange all have meanings that can be
very different from their everyday
meanings. The migration of these
words from common usage to their
specialized usage conveys some of
the playful attitude that
mathematicians and physicists have
towards abstract, complex problems.
REVISION
Helped me to bring myself into my writing
 Helped me to clarify my agenda and to
make it more interesting
 Helped me to figure out what I actually
wanted my agenda to be!
 Helped to iron out awkward phrasings and
inconsistencies

Revision did more than clarify the
ideas in my paper for the reader:
By helping me figure out what I
wanted to say and how I could best
express my opinions, revision
actually clarified the ideas that I
wanted to express for me!
In Conclusion…
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The language used by mathematicians and
physicists conveys their playful attitude
In a society that is dependant on technology, it is
important for people to understand this attitude
Math and physics are very personally relevant to
my life, and so this topic is very important to me
Through multiple stages of revision, I was able:


To bring myself into my essay and
To use my personal love of math to express my ideas
about this topic effectively on paper

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