help-octave
[Top][All Lists]
Advanced

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Maidir le: Octave and Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally


From: John B. Thoo
Subject: Re: Maidir le: Octave and Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
Date: Tue, 31 May 2011 06:35:33 -0700

On May 30, 2011, at 6:41 AM, John Swensen wrote:

> The expansion of PEDMAS is
> "Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, and Addition and 
> Subtraction".
> The "and" for both DM and AS implies they are of equal precedence and 
> therefore it is still correct.  I guess the left to right for equal 
> precedence is implied.
> 
> John Swensen

It is interesting to note that ``the rules for the order of operations were not 
agreed upon until the twentieth century: $24 \div 4 \times 6$ might be $36$ or 
$1$, depending on the author, and $3 \times 4 - 2$ might mean $6$ or $10$'' [1, 
p. 309].

[1]  Jeff Suzuki, A History of Mathematics, Prentice Hall (2002).

---John.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad" (Ps 
118:24).  Oohrah! (USMC)



reply via email to

[Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread]