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The history of mathematical notation [1] includes the commencement, progress, and cultural diffusion of mathematical symbols and the conflict of the methods of notation confronted in a notation's move to popularity or inconspicuousness.
The first mathematical symbols were signs for the depiction of numbers — ciphers, the appearance of which apparently preceded the introduction of written language. The most ancient systems of numbering (see Numbers, representations of ) — the Babylonian and the Egyptian — date back to around 3500 B.C..
The symbols we know and use today weren’t created until the 15th century. The first use of the plus sign was in 1489 by German mathematician Johannes Widmann. The plus sign just represents the letter “t” which was a short form of the Latin word “et” which means “and”.
History Of Math Symbols. Mathematicians originally wrote mathematical operations being carried out as proper sentences. So, every time they performed an operation, for example, adding, they would write: Add 2 to number 4. Add 72 to number 120 and so on.
Some Symbols from Mathematical Logic ∴ (three dots) means “therefore” and first appeared in print in the 1659 book Teusche Algebra (“Teach Yourself Algebra”) by Johann Rahn (1622-1676).
With this definition in place, Part I of Enlightening Symbols is a brief history of numerals, and Part II is a history of symbolism in algebra. Part III is more speculative, a brief enquiry into the nature of symbolic cognition, including dis-cussion of the similarities and differences between mathematical and other symbols.
These pages show the names of the individuals who first used various common mathematical symbols, and the dates the symbols first appeared. The most important written source is the definitive A History of Mathematical Notations by Florian Cajori.
Mathematical notation was first introduced by François Viète at the end of the 16th century and largely expanded during the 17th and 18th centuries by René Descartes, Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and overall Leonhard Euler.
The + and - symbols first appeared in print in Mercantile Arithmetic or Behende und hüpsche Rechenung auff allen Kauffmanschafft, by Johannes Widman (born c. 1460), published in Leipzig in 1489.
This book explains the fascinating history behind the development of our mathematical notation system. It shows how symbols were used initially, how one symbol replaced another over time, and how written math was conveyed before and after symbols became widely adopted.