Penn Professors on Writing in Mathematics

Professor Jonathan Block

About the Professor

Professor Block is a professor of mathematics at Penn. He is a topologist and geometer, specializing in Differential Geometry and Index Theory, K-Theory, Operator Algebras.

For more about Professor Block, please visit his Faculty Page.

Writing Tips

Professor Block sees many students with an incorrect understanding of proofs. He suggests that they always make sure their ideas are understandable to the audience. Readers may not always make the same connections that a writer does and so students must make sure they carefully explain the steps in a proof.

Important Criteria for Student Writing

For Professor Block, having original ideas, demonstrating master of other’s ideas, and reasoning and evidence are the most important parts of any mathematical writing. Following this, he values organization along with good style, grammar, and mechanics.

Personal Writing Process

Professor Block begins by reading as a much as he can to find something that interests him. He also takes note of useful techniques while doings so that will help him with his proof. He then devises a theorem and writes up a proof of it. He then writes the rest of the paper and revises it. Before submitting an article to a journal, he puts it on arXiv.org, a preprint repository, where other mathematicians can give feedback.

Links

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