“The real answer, the one I believe any mathematician, physicist, engineer, other number-cruncher would tell you is to make sure your expressions aren’t ambiguous. There’s no extra charge for another set of parentheses. Just toss them in. If you want the answer to be 16, write (8÷2)(2+2). If you want it to be 1, write 8÷(2(2+2)). Problem solved.”
—Evelyn Lamb, “The Only Way to Win Is Not to Play the Game.” Scientific American. August 3, 2019.
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