[Undated]

The elements to which the student at the Pons Asinorum says goodbye [Euclid 1.5] have their counterpart in other mathematical situations. Thus there are the elements that are combined in a particular way to form the notation employed in determinants. But even when the mathematician does not employ the term, there are situations in which it is possible to see that what in fact could with justification be called ‘elements’ are being combined according to certain rules to produce formulas. These elements seem to vary considerably; it may be interesting to collect them together for investigation.