Tips for mathematical handwriting (2007)

> Put a hook on the x to distinguish it from a times sign This is counterproductive IMO, because it makes it look like a chi. (The article notes the problem.) That seems more likely to cause issues than the possible ambiguity with the “times” symbol (“×”). If you need a multiplication symbol, use the middle dot (“·”) instead.

When I went back to school I had to take math again, which wasn't my best subject in school. I was determined to figure out why I could understand the material, yet consistently never quite did as well as I thought I should have on tests. So I kept a journal of every mistake I made so I could categorize them and understand them. Most of the mistakes were very specific handwriting mistakes, but they were very particular to how…

My lowercase x and n look quite similar, especially in subscript-size. When I was an undergraduate, I got marked down once because the marker thought I had written a limit as x (rather than n) tends to infinity, which made no sense in the context. Nearly 20 years later, I’m still bitter that I wasn’t given the benefit of the doubt.