Talk:Lambda

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Does anyone know WHY lamda is used as a symbol of the LGBT community? I came here hoping to find out....Redclaire 23:19, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

It's "lamda", not "lamBda"!

However, in modern Greek Pronunciation, it's probably '"labda", not "laMbda"' ...


== Goodman & Kruskal's lambda is a statistic which gives the proportional reduction in error when one variable's values are used to predict the values of another variable.

Uhm... here is wilks' lambda then?

Clarification:
The symbol for Wilks' Lambda is written in uppercase Greek: Λ (see under heading Upper-case letter Λ). The symbol for Goodman & Kruskall's Lambda (a different statistic altogether) is written in lowercase Greek: λ (see under heading Lower-case letter λ).

FYI, here are the formulas for each: \Lambda = \frac{ det(S_{error}) }{ det(S_{effect} + S_{error}) }
[see http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~hf101702/Julia_Wilk's%20Lamda.pdf]

\lambda(C|R) = \frac{ \sum_i r_i - \max_k(n_{.k}) }{N - \max_k(n_{.k}) } where ri = maxk(nik)
[see http://support.sas.com/onlinedoc/913/getDoc/en/statug.hlp/freq_sect20.htm]
Mark Walter 06:20, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lambda As A Symbol Of Gay and Lesbian Liberation

The lower case lambda (the one that looks like an upside-down "y") became a widely recognized symbol in the early Gay Liberation movement when New York's Gay Activist's Alliance (GAA)promoted the symbol in the form of buttons and T-shirts in 1970. In the early 1970s the Gay Activist's Alliance (GAA) was perhaps the largest and most important gay/lesbian liberationist organization in the US at the time.In December of 1969, an officer of that group, Tom Doerr, suggested the lambda because he claimed that in physics the lambda represented "a complete exchange of energy" -or activism- a meaning that has been disputed. The lambda became popular throughout North America and appeared on political buttons, jewelry, flags, and articles of clothing. Although widely recognized in the gay/lesbian community in the 1970's and 1980's, it was not familiar to most heterosexuals and therefore a discrete way gay and lesbian people could identify themselves to other members of their community.

At the close of the 20th century it appears other symbols of the l/g/b/t community gained greater popularity: particularly the "pink triangle" (originally a badge forced upon homosexuals by the Nazis during the Third Reich, similiar to the yellow star for Jews) and the "rainbow flag" which symbolizes the diversity of the l/g/b/t.

The lambda survives as a popular symbol of gay liberation and l/g/b/t civil rights. Several organizations have the name "lambda" in it, such as The Lambda Legal Defense Fund (an important l/g/b/t legal civil rights group, and The Lambda Community Center in Texas. There are many references I can cite in regards to the information I provided, such as "Dancing The Gay Lib Blues" a book by Arthur Bell, or "The Gay Militants" by Don Teal (both excellant short histories of the Stonewall Rebellion and the early Gay Liberation Movement), but for convenience check out online the GLBTQ Encyclopedia or even a major flag manufacturer's website: www.crwflags.com Buddmar 05:46, 27 April 2007 (UTC)buddmar

[edit] no LAMBDA, yes MICROLITER

The link bellow from the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) shows that the use of "lambda" as volume unit is unacceptable, and must be used "microliter".

http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP811/contents.html

JMRG, CSIC, Madrid, Spain —Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.111.151.9 (talk) 18:09, 28 February 2008 (UTC)