06-03-2022, 11:43 AM
There are people on this forum who know more math than me. A question for them: What is the origin of the degree symbol (º)?
In A History of Mathematical Notations, Florian Cajori says that this symbol appears in the second half of the 16th century and cites works by Jacques Peletier and Gemma Frisius.
Did these authors invent the symbol? I do not believe it. It is obvious that this little circle (º) represents the sphere and that it was used in a different sense in previous centuries in astronomical works.
With that little circle the stars were represented in many medieval manuscripts and I wonder if that is not precisely what the glyph that looks like the letter o in the Voynich means
In A History of Mathematical Notations, Florian Cajori says that this symbol appears in the second half of the 16th century and cites works by Jacques Peletier and Gemma Frisius.
Did these authors invent the symbol? I do not believe it. It is obvious that this little circle (º) represents the sphere and that it was used in a different sense in previous centuries in astronomical works.
With that little circle the stars were represented in many medieval manuscripts and I wonder if that is not precisely what the glyph that looks like the letter o in the Voynich means