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Most notably, he introduced the concept of a function [6] and was the first to write f(x) to denote the function f applied to the argument x. He also introduced the modern notation for the trigonometric functions , the letter e for the base of the natural logarithm (now also known as Euler's number ), the Greek letter Σ for summations and the ...
In 1637, René Descartes "invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z, and knowns by a, b, and c ". [17] Contrarily to Viète's convention, Descartes' is still commonly in use. The history of the letter x in math was discussed in an 1887 Scientific American article. [18]
In the 12th century, mathematician Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi analyzed the equation x 3 + d = b ⋅ x 2 in the form x 2 ⋅ (b – x) = d, stating that the left hand side must at least equal the value of d for the equation to have a solution. He then determined the maximum value of this expression.
At roughly the same time, the Han Chinese and the Romans both invented the wheeled odometer device for measuring distances traveled, the Roman model first described by the Roman civil engineer and architect Vitruvius (c. 80 BC – c. 15 BC). [102] The device was used at least until the reign of emperor Commodus (r.
An illustration of the complex plane. The imaginary numbers are on the vertical coordinate axis. Although the Greek mathematician and engineer Heron of Alexandria is noted as the first to present a calculation involving the square root of a negative number, [6] [7] it was Rafael Bombelli who first set down the rules for multiplication of complex numbers in 1572.
In this case, an element x of the domain is represented by an interval of the x-axis, and the corresponding value of the function, f(x), is represented by a rectangle whose base is the interval corresponding to x and whose height is f(x) (possibly negative, in which case the bar extends below the x-axis).
In Fortran, = serves as an assignment operator: X = 2 sets the value of X to 2. This somewhat resembles the use of = in a mathematical definition, but with different semantics: the expression following = is evaluated first, and may refer to a previous value of X. For example, the assignment X = X + 2 increases the value of X by 2.
This is a timeline of pure and applied mathematics history.It is divided here into three stages, corresponding to stages in the development of mathematical notation: a "rhetorical" stage in which calculations are described purely by words, a "syncopated" stage in which quantities and common algebraic operations are beginning to be represented by symbolic abbreviations, and finally a "symbolic ...