TITLE: Same symbol "$\partial$" - different things ( the boundary  $\partial A$ / partial derivative $\frac{\partial f}{\partial x}$)?
QUESTION [9 upvotes]: Are there any deep reasons, why we use the same symbol, $\partial$, when describing  two (apparently fundamental) different mathematical objects, namely the boundary of a set (in topology), as well as the partial derivative (in analysis) ?
Can one  of these maybe be viewed in (some very sophisticated manner) as the other ?
(According to wikipedia, this symbol occurs in even more places...)

REPLY [5 votes]: Yes, Stokes theorem 
$$\int_\Omega d\omega = \int_{\partial \Omega} \omega$$ looks nice in this notation--you just need to shift the d from the integrand to the integration manifold.

REPLY [3 votes]: I was going to say "no" but a google search brought up this MathOverflow thread:
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/46252/is-the-boundary-partial-s-analogous-to-a-derivative