In computer science, one of the first things you learn is that names should describe what something does.
function loadHomePage()
No documentation required. No lore. I know exactly what that does.
Meanwhile in math:
“Let f be Sir Ethan’s function defined on a compact Hausdorff space…”
WHAT does it do
WHY is it named after a guy
WHY is everything named after a guy
Computer science examples:
sortArray()
calculateInterest()
isUserLoggedIn()
Math examples:
Laplace transform
Dirac delta
Weierstrass function
Banach–Tarski paradox
Monster group (this literally sounds like a Pokémon)
Imagine if CS worked like math.
sir_ethans_algorithm(input)
“Oh, what does it do?”
“Well, Sir Ethan introduced it in 1897 while thinking about heat flow.”
Cool. Extremely helpful.
I get that these names come from history, and I respect the history. But from a learning standpoint it’s insane. Instead of names describing behavior, math just hands you a memorial plaque and tells you to deal with it.
I don’t need to know who discovered it yet. I need to know:
does it grow
does it shrink
does it converge
does it explode
or does it ruin my week
Math is beautiful.
Its naming system is chaos.