The history of the emergence of symbolic notation in mathematics in the 17th century and transformation of mathematical practice

Authors

  • Aleksandr Khlebalin Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Vitaly Tselishchev Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47850/RL.2020.1.1.40-47

Keywords:

notation, symbolic conception of number, mathematical practice, mathematical object.

Abstract

 

The article analyzes the intellectual and cultural preconditions that made it possible to create symbolic notation in mathematics of the 17th century. It is shown that the reprints of Euclid’s Elements in the XVI century formed an intellectual and cultural background that allowed Viet and Stevens to transform the classical concept of arithmos into a symbolic concept of number, which made the creation of symbolic notation possible. It is argued that the development of symbolic notation is not a simple change in the way of notation, but significantly changed the mathematical practice, making it possible to introduce new objects and through symbolic transformations.

References

Bos, H. J. M. (2001). Redefining Geometrical Exactness. New York, Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4613-0087-8

Cajori, F. (1993). A History of Mathematical Notations. Vol.1-2. Dover Publication’s, INC. Mineola. New York.

Dijksterhuis, E. J. (1970). Simon Stevin. Science in the Netherlands around 1600. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague. Netherlands. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-3207-0

Klein, J. (1992). Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra. New York, Dover Publications.

Malet, A. (1990). Changing notions of proportionality in pre-modern mathematics. Asclepio. Vol. 42. pp. 183-211.

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Published

2020-10-20 — Updated on 2020-10-20

How to Cite

Khlebalin А., & Tselishchev В. (2020). The history of the emergence of symbolic notation in mathematics in the 17th century and transformation of mathematical practice. Respublica Literaria, 1(1), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.47850/RL.2020.1.1.40-47

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2020): Institutionalization of science and the scientific community

Section

Статьи

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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