Orchid XP v8 escreveu:
>>> So, I'm not formally trained in mathematics at all. Normally, I can
>>> muddle through. I kept seeing the following mysterious symbol: Π
>>>
>>> Err... what on earth?
>>
>> looks like pi to me...
> 
> It *is*. It's the uppercase Greek letter pi (whereas the famous 
> mathematical constant is the lowercase pi.) And the summation symbol is 
> the (uppercase) Greek letter sigma...

neverending revelations... pi *has* uppercase... *head spins*

-- 
a game sig: http://tinyurl.com/d3rxz9

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Le 22/09/2010 19:02, nemesis nous fit lire :
> neverending revelations... pi *has* uppercase... *head spins*
> 
Take a seat, greek letters have uppercase & lowercase.
Now, take a deep breath.

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Le_Forgeron escreveu:
> Le 22/09/2010 19:02, nemesis nous fit lire :
>> neverending revelations... pi *has* uppercase... *head spins*
>>
> Take a seat, greek letters have uppercase & lowercase.
> Now, take a deep breath.

and can you think of any of them where the difference between them isn't 
merely size?  Take roman letters like "H" or "h" and the difference is 
remarkable.  Not such with "lowercase" or "uppercase" greek (at least 
the one's I know).

That's why I saw no difference in the pi symbol:  I have no size to 
relate to to tell if it's big or small.

-- 
a game sig: http://tinyurl.com/d3rxz9

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On 9/22/2010 11:52 AM, nemesis wrote:
> and can you think of any of them where the difference between them isn't
> merely size?

How about:

Alpha, Gamma, Delta, Zeta, Eta, Mu, Nu, Xi, Pi, Sigma, Upsilon, and Omega?

You also get less drastic changes for: Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, and 
Phi, plus some minor changes even for many of the remaining letters.

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On 22/09/2010 06:02 PM, nemesis wrote:

> neverending revelations... pi *has* uppercase... *head spins*

Oh, it's better: The entire Greek alphabet has uppercase and lowercase! :-P

(Although I surprising number of Greek letters, especially uppercase 
ones, look exactly like Roman ones...)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 22/09/2010 07:52 PM, nemesis wrote:

> and can you think of any of them where the difference between them isn't
> merely size? Take roman letters like "H" or "h" and the difference is
> remarkable. Not such with "lowercase" or "uppercase" greek (at least the
> one's I know).
>
> That's why I saw no difference in the pi symbol: I have no size to
> relate to to tell if it's big or small.

Lowercase sigma looks like a "6", but the uppercase looks more like... 
well, you've seen it, right?

Uppercase mu is an "M", but the lowercase is the "micro" symbol, that 
looks more like a "u".

I could go on... GIYF.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 22-9-2010 12:35, Invisible wrote:
>> Yeah I recall Sigma a lot in high school maths but I don't recall every
>> seeing Pi in this context. I don't recall when I discovered it, but it
>> was definitely after leaving education.
>
> You obviously had much greater mathematical education than me then!
>
>>> Then, today, I was poking around with MathML and saw the symbol on a
>>> sample page, right-clicked and looked at the mark-up.
>>
>> Or you could have, you know, asked here :-)
>
> What, to cries of GIYF?
>
> Or is that only when *I* ask something? :-P
Probably ;)
Actually no, because to ask google you need to know what it is.

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On 22-9-2010 20:52, nemesis wrote:
> Le_Forgeron escreveu:
>> Le 22/09/2010 19:02, nemesis nous fit lire :
>>> neverending revelations... pi *has* uppercase... *head spins*
>>>
>> Take a seat, greek letters have uppercase & lowercase.
>> Now, take a deep breath.
>
> and can you think of any of them where the difference between them isn't
> merely size? Take roman letters like "H" or "h" and the difference is
> remarkable. Not such with "lowercase" or "uppercase" greek (at least the
> one's I know).

Google 'greek alphabet' or something similar.

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>>> Or you could have, you know, asked here :-)
>>
>> What, to cries of GIYF?
>>
>> Or is that only when *I* ask something? :-P
> Probably ;)
> Actually no, because to ask google you need to know what it is.

This always amused me at school.

"I don't know how to spell X."
"Well look it up in the dictionary then!"
"But - and I refer you to point #1 - I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPELL IT! >_<"

Still, usually when I state here that something cannot be Googled, 
usually somebody immediately points out how to Google it...

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On 23/09/2010 9:08 AM, Invisible wrote:
> This always amused me at school.
>
> "I don't know how to spell X."
> "Well look it up in the dictionary then!"
> "But - and I refer you to point #1 - I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPELL IT! >_<"
>

I find that Google is good for getting the correct spelling.

> Still, usually when I state here that something cannot be Googled,
> usually somebody immediately points out how to Google it...

Maybe people are ignoring you saying that something cannot be googled 
and read it as *you* cannot google it. They then show you how to google it.

-- 

Best Regards,
	Stephen

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