Who really invented the integration symbol?

Question

Most of the sources online say that Leibniz invented the sign. There's also this answer on this site which says so.

That is fine. But recently when I was watching Cosmos, I noticed this: enter image description here

See the integration sign on the wall? That's Newton's house. Was it a co-incidence that Leibniz used the same symbol for integration?

Integration symbol was not "discovered". It was invented. It did not exist before it was invented. Integral existed but the symbol did not:-) — Alexandre Eremenko, Feb 05 '15 at 22:39
@Alexandre Eremenko I would say integrals were discovered because math is ahuman invention. — Yashbhatt, Feb 06 '15 at 01:30
@Yashbhatt: I strongly disagree, and most mathematicians share my opinion. — Alexandre Eremenko, Feb 06 '15 at 03:40

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 05 '15 at 13:11

9

The sign of the integral was proposed by Leibniz (for indefinite integral). It is a stylized letter $S$, and $S$ stands for the "sum".

The things seen in your picture are probably metal parts of the house construction which can be seen on many old houses built of stones. They have nothing to do with the integration symbol:-)

Remark. The modern notation for definite integral $$\int_a^b$$ was invented by J. Fourier.

answered Feb 05 '15 at 13:11

Alexandre Eremenko

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The things on the house are specifically known as anchor plates. – Jack M Feb 05 '15 at 13:26
Yes they are common on older UK houses. Sometimes they are other shapes, but the elongated S is one of the most common. – winwaed Feb 05 '15 at 13:48
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Ow. But that still looks cool. A nice co-incidence. – Yashbhatt Feb 05 '15 at 13:57
Also common in the US (in the places where stone houses exist). – Alexandre Eremenko Feb 05 '15 at 22:30

Who really invented the integration symbol?

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