&gt; Hint: if the first notation is so superior, why don&#x27;t math papers use it.<p>Math papers usually use neither the first nor the second.<p>they use:<p><pre><code>  (a + b)(c + d)
</code></pre>
in the example you propose, and, reversing the operators so that the first style would have:<p><pre><code>  (+ (* a b) (* b c))
</code></pre>
and the second:<p><pre><code>  (a * b) + (c * d)
</code></pre>
math papers would usually have:<p><pre><code>  ab + cd
</code></pre>
So, I&#x27;m not sure &quot;math papers do it differently&quot; is the argument you want to use to advance your second syntax over the first.<p>Of course, since in lisp + and * are variadic rather than binary operators, they are a lot more like the pi and sigma operators applied to sets in mathematics than binary operators.  Which <i>are</i> prefix, not infix. So, there&#x27;s that.