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706 RICHARDSON'S BLUEBOOK OF PROJECTION
breadth. We thus see the large saving in space made possible by using symbols.
However, since all mathematicians have agreed to do so, the formula is usually still further shortened by omitting the X, it being generally understood that where two symbols are next to each other, without any sign between, they are to be multiplied. Thus
a -lb
is read a equals length multiplied by breadth, the X being assumed.
Often it is necessary or desirable to express so many ideas or problems symbolically that the English alphabet does not contain enough letters to serve without confusion. Recourse then is had to other alphabets, notably the Greek. If it were for any reason desirable the foregoing formula might be written as
In fact any symbol may be selected to represent any quantity or thing, but as a rule certain symbols are universally used to represent certain things. This is necessary so that when mathematicians or engineers discuss problems in print each may know what the other is talking about without in each case reading a glossary of symbols. Therefore by nutual agreement certain symbols represent certain things. For example, I represents current flow in amperes ; g the gravitation of the earth, and so on. Take note that often the symbol is not the first letter of the word it may represent, as /, in the case of current. There usually is a history connected with the choice of letters or symbols, but so long as their meaning is understood, the story is irrelevant.
In mensuration or geometry, the Greek letter ^ (pronounced as pie) stands for the number 3.1416, by which the diameter of a circle must be multiplied to ascertain its circumference. Therefore if c stands for circumference and d for diameter, then the relation of diameter to circumference is expressed as