Quick Note About PlanetMath

Target Audience: Everyone

I always used to hate using PlanetMath. Sure, it was the only one of the major online math encyclopedias that would ever have proofs of the theorems listed, but the interface was so darn ugly that I never actually bothered to use it much. Ironically, PlanetMath is actually capable of producing the nicest-looking math on the web; the feature is just turned off by default to save bandwidth.

If you're not already familiar with this, take a look at the Planetmath article on Stirling's Theorem in the default format. Not too pretty, is it? Now go to the bottom of the page, drop down the "View Style" box, and select "Page Images." After a brief reload, you will be basking in glorious, glorious LaTeX output, complete with hyperlinks.

If you make an account on the site you can go ahead and turn this on by default any time you visit. I highly recommend it; the site has much more information on math than MathWorld or Wikipedia, especially since those sites seem to have rules against posting proofs and discussion thereof.