All articles tagged with #mathematics history
Nature’s archive features a retrospective on René Descartes, highlighting his contributions to geometry and a visit to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Published 50 years ago, the piece is part of a 'News and Views' section from September 2026, emphasizing historical scientific achievements.
The use of the decimal point in mathematics dates back further than previously thought, with a new paper tracing it back to the work of Giovanni Bianchini in the 1440s. Bianchini, a Venetian merchant and administrator, used the decimal system in his calculations in spherical astronomy and metrology, introducing the notation of a little dot to separate whole units from the fractional part. This notation was later adopted by influential mathematician astronomers such as Clavius and Regiomontanus, shaping the development of mathematical notation and paving the way for the widespread use of the decimal point.
Glen Van Brummelen, a mathematical historian, has discovered evidence of a decimal point being used by a Venetian merchant, Giovanni Bianchini, in the 1440s, 150 years before its previously known use by Christopher Clavius. This finding suggests that the use of the decimal point to represent non-whole numbers occurred much earlier than previously thought, potentially influencing the development of math fundamentals. Bianchini's background as a merchant and his travels to places in the Islamic world may have influenced his use of non-whole numbers and ways to represent them more easily.