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Mathematics

Numbers That Had to Be Invented

A placeholder promoted to a number, debts treated as quantities, and a root nobody believed in

Brahmagupta · Cardano · Bombelli · Wessel and Argand · Gauss · 3 chapters · 8 min read

A placeholder promoted to a number, debts treated as quantities, and a root nobody believed in.

Free to read: every chapter below is open

Extending the number line

  1. 01A Placeholder Promoted to a NumberOn the difference between a gap in a notation and a number.
  2. 02Debts, Fortunes and False RootsOn a thousand years of using something while denying it exists.
  3. 03The Number Nobody Believed InOn three insults that became three technical terms.