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Re: Re: Re: Re: Log[x]//TraditionalForm

   From what I've seen, (most of) the physics books published recently (and going so far back as 1953, though Morse & Feshbach's _Methods_of_Theoretical_Physics_ was "renewed" --- whatever that means --- in 1981) have the "ln" notation, rather than "log". This is pretty much true across the spectrum, from optics to acoustics to math methods to GR to fluid mechanics to classical dynamics and electrodynamics, and so forth. It's also true at all levels, from undergraduate texts to very specialized texts. In that respect, there's no "more advanced course" to go on to, unless it's more associated with maths in the stead of physics. Maybe we're still to attached to our Napier's Bones.

   Once one is in the field, it should almost always be obvious from context what base logarithm is being used, unless (and this one is a large pet peeve of mine) the authors are inconsistent, or mix notation. Students have no call to be confused by such little things :)

                     C.O.




On Friday 06 February 2009 02:14:24 am Murray Eisenberg wrote:
> So far as I have seen, almost any recently published, high-selling 
> textbook in calculus -- as distinct from advanced calculus or analysis 
> -- aimed at the U.S. market uses ln rather than log for the natural 
> logarithm.
> 
> No wonder students are confused when they go on to a more advanced 
> course and suddenly it's log, not ln.
> 
> Then of course there's the issue that computer scientists often use log 
> to mean base-2 log.
> 
> Andrzej Kozlowski wrote:
> > Tthe notation ln seems to have become essentially extinct since the  
> > disappearance of slide rules. It fact, was almost never used in books  
> > on analysis or calculus aimed at mathematicians. I have just checked and
> > Dieudonne, Foundations of Modern Analysis, published in 1969 uses log,  
> > Apostol, Calculus, published in 1967 uses log, Rudin, "Principles of  
> > Modern Analysis", published in 1964 uses L after remarking that "the  
> > usual notation is, of corse, log"), Rudin "Real and complex analysis",  
> > published in 1970 uses (naturally) log. Of 5 books that I have looked  
> > at only one, Fichtenholtz - A course of differential and integral  
> > calculus (in Russian) published in 1966 uses ln, which is presumably  
> > because it was aimed at engineers, who in those days still used slide  
> > rules (at least in Russia). (In spite of that, it is still a rather  
> > good book).
> > 
> > Andrzej Kozlowski
> > 
> > 
> > On 4 Feb 2009, at 11:18, Murray Eisenberg wrote:
> > 
> >> No, in mathematics log x or log(x) is a perfectly acceptable, perhaps
> >> the predominant, notation for the base-e, natural logarithm.
> >>
> >> In calculus books, ln x or ln(x) is typically used for that --  so as
> >> not to confuse students who were taught that log means the base-10
> >> logarithm.
> >>
> >> O.T.: P.S. M.I.T. has an all-male a cappella singing group named the
> >> "Logarhythms".
> >>
> >> slawek wrote:
> >>> The natural logarithm function in "traditional form" in Mathematica  
> >>> (version
> >>> 6.0.2.0)
> >>>
> >>>  Log[x]//TraditionalForm
> >>>  log(x)
> >>>
> >>> This is "not a bug but a feature", but in mathematics the natural  
> >>> logarithm
> >>> is just ln(x) or even ln x.
> >>> The true traditional notation use log for decimal logarithm, ln for  
> >>> natural
> >>> logarithm, lb for binary logarithm, and
> >>> log_{b}x  for logarithm with base b. Unfortunatelly in most computer
> >>> programs (see FORTRAN) LOG
> >>> stands for natural logarithm (an exception is Pascal).
> >>>
> >>> Nevertheless, how to force to use ln(x) instead log(x) ?
> >>>
> >>> The brute way is use /.Log->ln//TraditionalForm.
> >>>
> >>> Is any more elegant way to do this?
> >>>
> >>> slawek
> >>>
> >>>
> >> -- 
> >> Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
> >> Mathematics & Statistics Dept.
> >> Lederle Graduate Research Tower      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
> >> University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
> >> 710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
> >> Amherst, MA 01003-9305
> >>
> > 
> > 
> 



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