Re: simple, quick notation q: what do the "."s mean in this?

From: Roy Stogner (roystgnrNO_at_SPAMices.utexas.edu)
Date: 07/03/04 

Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 21:04:58 GMT

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 18:18:04 +0000, ben wrote:

> the dots in these parts (which, in the book, appear bolder than the
> usual end of sentence full stops): the one in "(since then 0 = 0.a =
> 1)" and the two (not including the one on the end) in this part "1 =
> a^-1 .a < 0 .a = 0."
>
> what are those full stops/dots' meaning? how should they be read?

Based on context they're the multiplication operator, usually read out
loud as "times". They're usually distinguished from decimal points not by
how bold they are, but by being placed on the center of a line rather than
at the bottom of it; in ASCII people usually use asterisks (*) instead
of periods since there's no "period up higher" character.

I've got to say I'm curious: how is it that you haven't seen a dot
used to signify multiplication, but you have seen a carat (^) used to
signify exponentiation? 

---
Roy Stogner

Relevant Pages

  • RE: List of Commands?
    ... In this context, the * is a wildcard character. ... * is a multiplication operator. ... I used this function to find how many times a row of cells ...
    (microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions)
  • Re: simple, quick notation q: what do the "."s mean in this?
    ... > Based on context they're the multiplication operator, ... > how bold they are, but by being placed on the center of a line rather than ... > used to signify multiplication, but you have seen a carat used to ... perfectly well and is what i've used on computers for times. ...
    (sci.math.num-analysis)