Read on Twitter
What do you use to separate whole numbers from decimals - a period or a comma?
It's kinda weird that it isn't consistent. Want to know the reason why?
Basically, you can blame it all on calculus - or at least, its founder. (THREAD)
It's kinda weird that it isn't consistent. Want to know the reason why?
Basically, you can blame it all on calculus - or at least, its founder. (THREAD)
For the longest time, mathematicians didn’t coordinate how to separate whole numbers from the decimal points. They used everything from semicolons to vertical bars. This was understandably confusing AF.
Cut to the 16th century: the decimal dot (aka the period) debuted and it was a hit! Suddenly, mathematicians around the world were on the same page for, like, the first time ever.
But as quickly as it came together, it all fell apart. The culprit? Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a European mathematician and the creator of differential calculus.
Basically, Leibniz didn’t like using “
” as the symbol of multiplication. He thought it clashed with “x”, the usual symbol for an unknown variable. Instead, he used a “⋅”. The only issue is that it looks the same as the decimal dot.
” as the symbol of multiplication. He thought it clashed with “x”, the usual symbol for an unknown variable. Instead, he used a “⋅”. The only issue is that it looks the same as the decimal dot.
You’d think that people would reject this idea, but there was one issue: Leibniz was famous. He was like the Kim K of the European math world, which meant he always got what he wanted. So, an entire continent changed from a decimal dot to a decimal comma just to appease him.
Americans, on the other hand, didn’t care enough about Leibniz’s “breakthrough” - they really liked using the “×”, and decided not to change.
Nowadays, it’s common for the US to use “⋅” and “x” for multiplication, but they never stopped using the decimal dot. They probably figured that math is puzzling enough, so what’s a little more confusion?
Got an interesting question and want an answer that's straight to the "point"? Be sure to tweet us @AnswerInTweets, and it might become a future thread!
