XKCD FTW: Greek Letters

Today's xkcd is fantastic! This is a big win. The mouseover is also great (and I am guilty as charged).

Wait until Randall Munroe finds out about mathfrak…

New XKCD: "Mathematical Symbol Fight"

XKCD understands me.

By the way, I don't agree with this ordering.

Ancient Doodles Around the World

This, along with Stonehenge, is another thing that I would do just to mess with people if I had a time machine.

Oh wait...

Mysterious ancient symbols found throughout the world. Source: https://t.co/vzCu3a0mYC pic.twitter.com/gJ7bJku9c2

— Cliff Pickover (@pickover) March 3, 2019

(Tip of the cap to math prof.)

Ampersand: The 27th Letter

Yes, really: ampersand used to be considered a genuine letter of the alphabet. So cool!

(Tip of the cap to Lior Pachter.)

A Primer on the Origin of Mathematical Symbols

The Guardian just published a short article by Joseph Mazur that advertises his new book on the origin of mathematical symbols. The article itself contains a couple of tantalizing hints, but I wish it had more without needing to jump to the whole book.

(Tip of the cap to somebody who posted this on Facebook. I already forgot whom.)

Mathematical Symbolism

Claim: The terms "spiritually similar" and "morally equivalent" really need mathematical symbols to go with them.