Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.answers,news.answers Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.chnt.gtegsc.com!news.umbc.edu!haven.umd.edu!ames!hookup!torn!watserv3.uwaterloo.ca!undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca!neumann.uwaterloo.ca!alopez-o 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: 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 Reply-To: alopez-o@neumann.uwaterloo.ca Nntp-Posting-Host: neumann.uwaterloo.ca Organization: University of Waterloo Keywords: FAQ Followup-To: sci.math Lines: 81 Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.math:124420 sci.answers:3444 news.answers:57849 Archive-Name: sci-math-faq/introduction Last-modified: December 8, 1994 Version: 6.2 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________________ * Why a list of Frequently Asked Questions? * Frequently Asked Questions in Mathematics? _________________________________________________________________ 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. 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. Frequently Asked Questions in Mathematics? 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. 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. alopez-o@barrow.uwaterloo.ca Tue Apr 04 17:26:57 EDT 1995