Assignment 2 - Lauren Moore

The chapter I chose to read in "A Primer of Mathematical Writing" was chapter 5: Books. This chapter covered how to best write a mathematics book that would be easily understood and stand the test of time. Books in mathematics can be quite daunting at first. I remember when I jumped into my first leisure read on mathematics. It covered the history of Pi. While quite interesting, it failed one of the major points Krantz makes in his chapter. While the book did have something to say, it was only repeating what was said before. According to Krantz, the book then contributed nothing to mathematics.

I believe that this notion of contributing new information is important in all forms of writing. Whether it be a new interpretation of a famous book such as The Crucible or a completely new idea in fiction. Writing is only useful when it is unique. 50 books on the exact same topic, unless they differ in some substantial way, contributes nothing to the topic. For example, there are hundreds of textbooks used in public schools that cover the American history. With the exception of two or three of these books, the remainder just regurgitate information that the other has already said.

So, when it comes to writing, there are two important things to follow. Make sure you have something important to say. And whatever it is you are saying must be different than any of the previous authors.