Dan Bron wrote: > > It was just a "natural" expectation. I suspect that's why e. is what it > is today: decades (years? centuries? millennia?) of mathematical history > has shaped the epsilon notation, and the universe is on the right. >
Set theory is recent in terms of mathematical history, basically from the late 19th century, and largely due to Cantor. The epsilon notation was first used by Peano around 1890: he used the regular epsilon, rather than the stylized one now used, which was introduced by Russell around 1903. All of the disputes about argument order to me center around which way to bond a dyad: u&e. and e.&v are both meaningful. Dan is arguing the second is most common, and I concur. However, any choice is going to be somewhat arbitrary. Isn't that why J has ~ ? Best wishes, John ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
