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- From: alopez-o@neumann.uwaterloo.ca (Alex Lopez-Ortiz)
- Subject: sci.math FAQ: Introduction
- Summary: Part 3 of many, New version,
- Originator: alopez-o@neumann.uwaterloo.ca
- Message-ID: <DI76J5.Iuq@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>
- Sender: news@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (news spool owner)
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 17:13:52 GMT
- Expires: Fri, 8 Dec 1995 09:55:55 GMT
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- Archive-Name: sci-math-faq/introduction
- Last-modified: December 8, 1994
- Version: 6.2
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- INTRODUCTION
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- _________________________________________________________________
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- * Why a list of Frequently Asked Questions?
- * Frequently Asked Questions in Mathematics?
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- _________________________________________________________________
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- The Net, as users call the Internet, and specially newsgroups, (i.e.
- Usenet) created a demand of knowledge without parallel since the
- invention of the printing press. Surprisingly, the type of knowledge
- demanded from and by the Usenet community had, in most cases, little
- in common -both in structure and content- with that of printed in
- current publications. This defined Usenet as more of an alternative to
- books rather than a replacement thereof [IMAGE]
-
- In the Net, questions posed are, more often than not, at the level of
- an amateur practitioner -even in cases where the question was posed by
- a professional in the field. Similarly, the quality of the answers
- varies greatly, ranging from the incorrect or disrespectful, to
- summaries of the state of the art in the topic in question.
-
- Other characteristics of communication on the Net are simply inherited
- from restrictions of the medium. The unit of knowledge is a screenful
- worth of text (a scrit, from screen and bit). Articles exceeding that
- limit are usually disregarded.
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- The lack of memory of the medium generates a repetition of topics,
- much to the chagrin of old time citizens of the Net. Frequently asked
- questions lists palliate some of these deficiencies by providing a
- record of relevant information while at the same time never being
- outdated.
-
- Thus, typically a list of frequently asked questions is ``posted'' at
- least once a month, and updated at least as frequently. And, in what
- must be a first for an information based product, FAQ lists ``expire''
- on a given date, very much like any other perishable item.
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- Frequently Asked Questions in Mathematics?
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- If I had to describe the contents of the FAQ in Mathematics in a
- single sentence, I would call it mathematical gossip or perhaps
- non-trivial mathematical trivia.
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- The FAQ list is a compilation of knowledge of interest to most
- professional and amateur mathematicians, ranging from advanced topics
- such as Wiles' proposed proof to Fermat's Last Theorem to the list of
- Fields Medal winners.
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- alopez-o@barrow.uwaterloo.ca
- Tue Apr 04 17:26:57 EDT 1995
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