Timeline for Origins of Mathematical Symbols/Names
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2020 at 13:25 | comment | added | Francois Ziegler | @KevinH.Lin Apparently not, cf. Explanation why $x, y, z$ are always variables. | |
| May 4, 2010 at 12:34 | comment | added | Kevin H. Lin | Dmitri: Interesting! I wonder if anybody can corroborate this story. | |
| Dec 10, 2009 at 15:26 | comment | added | Dmitri Pavlov | I once heard that the typesetter of Descartes' book on geometry asked him whether any particular choice of letters is important and when Descartes replied that it is not, he suggested to use x and y because they are rarely used in French and so he will not run out of them when he typesets the book. | |
| Dec 9, 2009 at 23:14 | comment | added | Theo Johnson-Freyd | Well, now I'm not sure. Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes credits Descartes with suggesting $x^2$ for "$x$ times $x$". Leibniz invented the words "coordinate, abscissa, ordinate". | |
| Dec 9, 2009 at 17:35 | comment | added | Kevin H. Lin | Did he choose these letters more or less at random, or did he have some particular reason for the choice? | |
| Dec 9, 2009 at 17:32 | history | answered | Theo Johnson-Freyd | CC BY-SA 2.5 |