Madison Howard Assignment 2

The chapter that first stood out to me in the table of contents was Chapter 2, “Topics Specific to Writing Mathematics.” I have never written a math paper, and while I was sure that there were some similarities in writing a math paper and other types of writing I’ve done in the past, I wanted to learn more. For this reason, I chose to dive into the chapter. Right off the bat, section 2.1 was giving me information I’d never considered. Of course I knew that all papers, especially academic papers, need structure. However, as section 2.1 informed me, the way one may intuitively organize a paper is likely not the best way to do it. 

The first bits of information given were about what information should go at the beginning of the document. This includes basics such as the author's name, the date, and an abstract. Something I did not know was that an AMS subject classification number should also be included in this section. Before reading this papers, I had no idea what this was. It is a number which describes the subarea that the information in the paper falls under. Finally, the beginning of the document should include recognition and thanks to contributors. It is important to know the protocol on who to thank and how to go about it. In general, agencies which gave financial aid should always receive recognition. It is also common courtesy to ask contributors about whether or not they would like to be acknowledged in the paper. 

Another thing that I found extremely informative in this section was how to organize the actual informational contents of a mathematical paper. First, the author should include a concise and informative summary of what the paper is about and why the information is new and/or important. This should not include a lot of jargon or technical terms. Then, before getting into the gritty details of the theorem and proof, the author should offer the "big steps" of the proof. The smaller, more technical details of the proof should be included towards the end of the paper. This is advantageous to the reader so that he or she can sort of decide along the way whether they'd like to continue reading. 

I found this section to be very informative and it will be helpful to remember this information throughout my career in mathematics.