2

I am writing a document/article for the average layman, with the aim of explaining certain well known results in mathematics while glossing over the more gritty details.

I'm going to include several references as "Further Readings" where I cite my sources for the definitions I use for mathematical terms such as graph, surface, pair, etc, and certain minor results I expect the reader to assume for the sake of brevity.

For this reason, I was thinking of citing articles on Mathworld.Wolfram.com for simple definitions. Do you think this is a good idea? Should I simply cite well known books instead of online encyclopedias such as Mathworld?

Threnody
  • 898
  • 4
    I don't think it is a good idea. First, because the definitions on Mathworld are not really tailored for the average layman (in this sense, Wikipédia is much better imo). Second, while anybody can google, not everybody knows where to look in the literature. – Surb May 23 '20 at 06:15
  • 4
    Most of Mathworld definitions are shortened versions of Wikipedia's, and Wikipedia is in the public domain, while Mathworld is proprietory. So of the two Wikipedia is preferable. An even better choice is the online Encyclopedia of Mathematics, which is also public and has its content updated and monitored by the European Mathematical Society. Citing standard textbooks in addition also can't hurt. – Conifold May 23 '20 at 06:29

0 Answers0