Adopted Quote by Kenneth E. Iverson
“I was appalled to find that the mathematical notation on which I had been raised failed to fill the needs of the courses I was assigned, and I began work on extensions to notation that might serve. In particular, I adopted the matrix algebra used in my thesis work, the systematic use of matrices and higher-dimensional arrays (almost) learned in a course in Tensor Analysis rashly taken in my third year at Queen's, and (eventually) the notion of Operators in the sense introduced by Heaviside in his treatment of Maxwell's equations.”
About This Quote
Source Book: APL Programming Language, Kenneth E. Iverson, 1962
The author found existing notation inadequate for his work, so he created new symbolic systems using matrices and operators to better express complex ideas.
In simple terms: He invented new notation to solve problems.
Key Takeaway
Embrace new symbols when old ones fail.
Themes
innovation
notation
mathematics
Mood
curious
determined
Type
technical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- software development
- academic research
- engineering design
- data modeling
Key Concepts
symbolic systems
operator theory
tensor analysis
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you improve communication of complex ideas?
- When should you invent new symbols?
A Different Perspective
New notation may be hard for others to learn.
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