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From: martelli@cadlab.sublink.ORG (Alex Martelli)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Formal definitions (Re: ada-c++ productivity)
Message-ID: <757@cadlab.sublink.ORG>
Date: 15 Apr 91 22:13:39 GMT
References: <1991Apr8.080931.23209@netcom.COM> <50097@nigel.ee.udel.edu> <1991Apr12.082128.11654@netcom.COM> <50570@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Organization: CAD.LAB, Bologna, Italia
Lines: 23

new@ee.udel.edu (Darren New) writes:
	...
:>>you can't have a formal definition without math.  LOTOS's definition
:>     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  (Why?)
:
:Because "math" means "formal."  (I think the word "math" comes from
:the name of the Arabic person who invented math, or something like that.)

You're probably thinking of "algorithm".  "Mathematics" is a deeply 
Indo-European word: immediate derivation from Greek "mathein, manthanein",
"to learn", but undoubted relationships link it to other I.E. words (in
various Germanic languages, and Sanskrit) such as "muntar" (prompt, awake),
"munda" (to aim), "mundon" (to pay attention), "medha" (intelligence,
wisdom), ultimately to something like "manas" (mind) + "dadhati" (to put,
to place) - yes, "mind", "mental", "mnemonic" all come from the same
root-word family.  Sorry to intrude, but, while not formally treated,
this definitely IS a MISCellaneous LANGuage problem...:-).

-- 
Alex Martelli - CAD.LAB s.p.a., v. Stalingrado 53, Bologna, Italia
Email: (work:) martelli@cadlab.sublink.org, (home:) alex@am.sublink.org
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