Mathematical Notations: Functions and Design

Abstract

It is not difficult to appreciate how design is involved in graphic productions, as with maps of all sorts and with visual displays of numerical information. Design is less apparent in the case of mathematical symbols, except perhaps in the choice of typefaces in printing. However design is there, primarily involving intellectual criteria but with a significant aesthetic component as well. In this case, the “marks on paper” are intended to be copied, re-copied and combined freely with others, as in a mathematical argument or calculation. Each type of mark, or symbol, represents a concept; in this way it abbreviates the expression from its prose form, encapsulates its meaning, facilitates its use, and interacts fruitfully with the concept it represents.