For questions about the history and development of how symbols and related objects are written.
Questions tagged [notation]
206 questions
28
votes
1 answer
Why did I learn to write the base of the logarithm differently from the rest of the world?
It only occurred to me recently, in connection with this MO posting, that the way I write the base of the logarithm is not shared by the rest of the world. I am Dutch, and I learned at school to write the base as a superscript, $^{a}\!\log b$,…
Carlo Beenakker
- 994
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25
votes
6 answers
When was the first recorded use of subscript in mathematics to represent index?
(Disclaimer: apologies for any incorrect usage of mathematical terminology throughout this question.)
In modern mathematical notation, a variable with a subscript can represent a couple of different concepts relating to the notion of index.
For…
thBeam
19
votes
2 answers
Who invented the way we write exponentiation?
Why do we write $a^n$ instead of $^n\!a$ for exponentiation? What benefit is there to writing the base before the exponent? With addition and multiplication order doesn't matter since $a + b = b + a$, so why was $a^n$ chosen, and who popularised…
Frank Vel
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14
votes
2 answers
History of italicising variables and mathematical formatting in general
In the modern day, especially with the advent of $\mathrm\TeX$, it is common practice to italicise variables. This can be seen as far back as Hann, J. (1850). Examples on the Integral Calculus. What's the oldest example of this and when did it…
Shaikh Ammar
- 149
- 4
10
votes
1 answer
Notation from Weyl's algebraic number theory book
In Weyl's "Algebraic Theory of Numbers", which was written in 1940, there are many symbols that look handwritten, such as Fraktur (or Sütterlin, whatever you want to call it) letters for ideals. His symbol for the rational numbers looks to me like…
KCd
- 5,517
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8
votes
1 answer
When was the short notation for large numbers first introduced and why?
While the long notation or long scale uses multiples of millions to denominate larger numbers (e.g., 10^12 being a billion, a million of millions, thus bi-llion), the short notation (the standard in the US and UK) uses multiples of thousands (e.g.,…
arkaia
- 181
- 8
8
votes
1 answer
Why do some people represent vectors with overbars while others use underlines?
When I was originally introduced to vectors, I was told to write them with an arrow above the variable, like so: $$\vec{x}$$
As soon as I began taking vector-heavy classes, I found that those teachers dropped the arrow head:…
zaen
- 191
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7
votes
3 answers
Is the symbol $e$ for the base of natural logarithm honoring Euler?
According to Internet (actually, Wikipedia and Wolfram MathWorld), I have two information: It was Euler who first introduced the symbol $e$ (before people used $b$); the symbol is to honor Euler.
I find this very strange. My theory is that $e$…
Hao Chen
- 355
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- 9
7
votes
1 answer
When did the use of the comma as a decimal mark become extinct in the US?
The US and the UK uses a baseline dot as the decimal mark. Most other European countries use the comma. Here is a short piece on the history of this matter.
My question is: When did the use of the comma as the decimal mark become (largely) extinct…
user67
6
votes
1 answer
Notation for fiber bundles - why E for total space?
I'm looking for info on why E is commonly used for the total space of a fiber bundle. I understand F (fiber) and B (base), but there doesn't seem to be any particularly obvious reason for choosing E.
octocat
- 63
- 4
6
votes
4 answers
Why are US Bonds measured in '32nd' ticks?
I am a programmer that has been working for fixed income financial companies for the past couple of years. As such, I have learned about a weird notation on fixed income products.
In the US, bonds are priced in 1/32 increments ("a tick") or 1/64…
getglad
- 161
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- 1
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4
votes
2 answers
Is using ~ for “approximately equal” a relic of the typewriter and ASCII era?
In my life¹, I have never seen a symbol other than ≈ used in handwriting to express “approximately equal”.
The symbol ~ was only used for more mathematical purposes such as equivalence, proportionality, or “is distributed as”.
Yet, I often see the…
Wrzlprmft
- 1,022
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- 25
4
votes
2 answers
Why were the SI-unit prefixes chosen to be a multiple power of 3?
Why were the SI unit prefixes, i.e.
\begin{align}
\mathrm{giga} && 10^9 \\
\mathrm{mega} && 10^6 \\
\mathrm{kilo} && 10^3 \\
\mathrm{milli} && 10^{-3} \\
\mathrm{micro} && 10^{-6} \\
\mathrm{nano} && 10^{-9}
\end{align}
chosen to be a…
CustodianSigma
- 141
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- 1
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3
votes
2 answers
Communication using mathematical notation among people of different languages
Can it be (are there real examples/anecdotes of) that, say during international
séminaires or conferences in mathematics, people of different linguistical
origins could understand each other with the help of pure -or almost-…
Seb
- 51
- 1
3
votes
0 answers
Notation for the "binomial form" of a polynomial
In Hardy's A Course of Pure Mathematics (§117 in the 10th edition), in a discussion of differentiation of polynomials, he introduces what he calls the "binomial form" of a polynomial:
$$
a_0x^n + \pmatrix{n \\ 1}a_1x^{n-1} +…
Rob Arthan
- 231
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