-- Draft unofficial <sci.math> FAQ. Comments please.



Recent discussions gave me the idea of posting some general advice
(especially for newbies) once every few weeks. I've tried to use
straightforward language for the sake of posters who are not native
English speakers.

Please suggest improvements to any part of it, including the
title. (The title will not begin with "-- ", so that regulars can more
easily ignore it.)

Title: How to post messages to the <sci.math> news group.

These notes are not official in any way, but if you are new to
this group you may find them helpful.

1. Messages posted to <sci.math> may be about mathematics at any
level. Please don't post OT (off-topic) messages about other things.
Questions about mathematical statistics may be posted here, but
you may prefer to try the <sci.stat.math> or <sci.stat.edu> news group.

2. The title should show what is in your message. For example, "--
Differentiating trig functions" is a good title, but "-- I can't solve
this problem" is a bad title.
Also, the two dashes and a space at the beginning of each title
help some people to separate your message from commercial spam.

3. Typing mathematical formulae may not be easy.

Use "^" for powers, for example a^3 for "a cubed".

Use plenty of brackets/parentheses. For example, 5e^2x could mean
(5e)^(2x) or ((5e)^2)x or 5(e^2)x or 5(e^(2x)).

Use plenty of spaces. For example, x + y = 6 is easier to read than
x+y=6.

For more details about typing formulae, see the <alt.algebra.help> FAQ
at <http://aah.ryan-usa.com/node15.html>.

4. This news group is open to everybody, and some people have bad
manners. Try to stay polite yourself. There are still plenty of people
who want to discuss mathematics without rude arguments. I hope you
enjoy being one of them.

Ken Pledger.
.



Relevant Pages

  • Welcome to . These suggestions may help you. [38]
    ... than one news group) - see section 6 below. ... and some cranks stubbornly claim to know more mathematics than ... plenty of users who want to discuss mathematics without rude arguments. ...
    (sci.math)
  • Welcome to . These suggestions may help you. [39]
    ... Some questions may have better luck in a more specialized news group ... and some cranks stubbornly claim to know more mathematics than ... plenty of users who want to discuss mathematics without rude arguments. ... For mathematical news groups there are detailed FAQ at   ...
    (sci.math)
  • Welcome to . These suggestions may help you. [40]
    ... Some questions may have better luck in a more specialized news group ... You will rarely need * for multiplication, but use plenty of ... and some cranks presume to know more mathematics than they ... For mathematical news groups there are detailed FAQ at   ...
    (sci.math)
  • Welcome to . These suggestions may help you.
    ... Some questions may have better luck in a more specialized news group ... You will rarely need * for multiplication, but use plenty of ... and some cranks presume to know more mathematics than they ... For mathematical news groups there are detailed FAQ at   ...
    (sci.math)
  • Welcome to . These suggestions may help you. [37]
    ... than one news group) - see section 6 below. ... and some cranks stubbornly claim to know more mathematics than ... plenty of users who want to discuss mathematics without rude arguments. ...
    (sci.math)