Comment by Ekaros
6 hours ago
English is good example. It has not been fixed for long while. Even if there would be so many better ways to write certain words.
6 hours ago
English is good example. It has not been fixed for long while. Even if there would be so many better ways to write certain words.
I feel like Mathematical notation is also a great example (since Math is ultimately a separate language: the language of measurement)
It's been built up over centuries where new innovations and shifts in perspective often create new kinds of notation, but those most frequently just get tacked onto whatever else is already standard and the new notations almost never actually supplant the old.
AFAICT we haven't really had a big shift in fundamental mathematical notation in Europe (and its colonies) since Roman Numerals (CXXIII) gave way to Arabic (123) numerals four hundred years ago. 8I
> AFAICT we haven't really had a big shift in fundamental mathematical notation in Europe (and its colonies) since Roman Numerals (CXXIII) gave way to Arabic (123) numerals four hundred years ago. 8I
Your history is a little confused. Arabic numerals came into use in Europe as early as the 13th century (introduced by Leonardo Fibonacci), but most other mathematical notation like "=" or or "√" didn't show up until the 16th or 17th century.