\input mymacs

\title{Mathematics styles in Southern California}

\authorsection


\abstract{
After sleeping, which takes up ${\scriptstyle1/\scriptstyle3}↑{rd}$ of our
time, and working which takes up a bit less, driving is the most
time-consuming activity in Southern California.
Before you buy a car in Southern California, you must ask yourself, ``What
kind of a car says {\sl me\/}?''
This is a serious question, since you will be judged by the car you
drive.\note{Jonathan Roberts, {\sl How to California}, (Dell: New~York), 1984.}

\TeX\ users come under a similar regime.
The style you use for mathematical notation is as personal to you as your
name.
In this article we examine what a person's choice of notation tells about
them, especially and most importantly what it tells about their car.
}

``In small things style is important, in important things style is
everything.''\note{Attributed to an obscure British dilletante.}
Mathematicians are bound by this rule just like the rest of us.
It is the author's impression that by looking at a mathematician's use of
notation we can tell a lot about their lifestyle, especially about what
kind of car they drive.

\section{The cars that mathematicians drive}
Take for example the fellow who sets his integration limits as wide as
possible.
He might write integrals like \Int{\infty}{-\infty}; most likely he drives
a four wheel drive jeep converted for off-the-road travel.
As you might expect, correspondingly, the fellow who prefers to write
\Int{\infty}{0} probably also prefers a front wheel drive car like an Audi
or a Rabbit.
If you see someone as frank as to indicate \Int{0}{0}---you have probably
caught on that this person doesn't even own a car.
As any Calculus student can tell you, the integral from zero to zero is
nothing at all.

On the other hand, seeing something like \Int{BMW}{VW} indicates a cagey
attitude, since these limits cover quite a range of German cars.
He may actually drive a vintage {\sl Porsche}. Likewise do not be fooled
by \Int{733i}{}.
For mathematicians the $i$ does not stand for ``fuel injection'' but
rather for {\it imaginary\/}; no mathematician could afford a
$BMW\ sedan$.

\bye