Food for thought on notational innovation:
Babbage was particularly proud of his Mechanical Notation--a method of describing the complex motions of large numbers of interconnected parts. The Notation was a symbolic shorthand to describe combinations of parts too complicated to visualize all at once. It was used both to describe and optimize his designs....He himself used the Notation a great deal and constantly refined it. But for all his pride in its invention, it was largely ignored. ---Doron Swade, Charles Babbage and his Calculating Engines (1991) Best wishes, John ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
