Roy A. Crabtree wrote: > Cajori also importantly notes the elationship between e and pi; as well as > symbols that denote this relationship (FIsher? memory is port here). > >
Cajori's book, A History of Mathematical Notations, is well worth reading for anyone with an interest in mathematical notation, as many J readers are. In addition, it has non-bogus histories of other symbols (e.g. the US dollar sign is not a monogram). It's a bargain, too: currently US $16.98 from Amazon (less than I paid for my copy). Pi is less arbitrary than one might think as a notation: the idea comes from Oughtred (1652) who used pi/delta to mean peripherary/diameter for a circle. Our modern pi is his pi/1, first used by William Jones, and then more popularly by Euler. Best wishes, John ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
