Reddit Reddit reviews Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (The MIT Press)

We found 2 Reddit comments about Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (The MIT Press). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (The MIT Press)
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2 Reddit comments about Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (The MIT Press):

u/MysteriousSeaPeoples · 15 pointsr/math

I don't think that is a very compelling argument, unless we believe mathematicians can do no notational wrong :-) The imprecise, ambiguous, sometimes obfuscatory notation that arises in multivariable calculus and the calculus of variations is a well known and frequently discussed issue. I think we underestimate the difficulty it causes to students, especially to students coming from other disciplines who aren't steeped in the mathematical vernacular.

It's been problematic enough that there are some high profile and semi-accepted attempts to refine the notation, such as the functional notation used in Spivak's Calculus on Manifolds, which is based in an earlier attempt from the 50s if I remember correctly. Another presentation of physics motivated in large part by fixing the notation is Sussman & Wisdom's Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics which adopts Spivak's notation, and also uses computer programs to describe algorithms more precisely.