Which Side Are You On?

This is basically the Crips vs Bloods of mathematics. On the red side, we've got Leibniz with his dy/dx notation for derivatives—smooth, elegant, and looks like actual fractions (even though they're not, but shhhh). On the blue side, there's Newton rocking the dot notation for derivatives, keeping it simple and clean.

The funny thing? These two literally invented calculus independently around the same time and got into one of history's pettiest academic beefs about who did it first. Their rivalry was so intense it split European mathematics for generations. Leibniz's notation won the popularity contest though—most of us learn dy/dx in school because it's way more intuitive for showing what's actually happening. Newton's dot notation still shows up in physics for time derivatives, so both gangs are still repping to this day.

Choose your fighter wisely—your calculus professor is judging you.