Re: [HM] scientific notation

Jeff Miller (JeffM@sanctum.com)
Fri, 02 Apr 1999 13:57:53 -0500

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For what it's worth, the term "scientific notation" seems to be rather
recent. The term is dated ca. 1934 by Merriam-Webster, and I believe this
is a reference to Webster's Second New International Dictionary (1934),
which includes the term and states that numbers in this form are called
"condensed numbers." The first edition of that dictionary (1909) does not
have either "scientific notation" or "condensed number."

I have an 1890 dictionary which shows the velocity of light in scientific
notation but does not have the term itself.

I believe that Cajori's History of Mathematical Notation does not have any
information on scientific notation.

Jeff Miller
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html

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