Square root of 2 the square root of two, with a reasonable small denominator, the fraction (≈ 1.4142857) is sometimes used. The sequence in the OEIS gives the numerical value for the square root of two, truncated to 65 decimal places: The Babylonian clay tablet YBC 7289 (c. 1800–1600 BC) gives an approximation of in four sexagesimal figures, , which is accurate to about six decimal digits, and is the closest possible three-place sexagesimal representation of : Another early close approximation is given in ancient Indian mathematical texts, the Sulbasutras (c. 800–200 BC) as follows: "Increase the length [of the side] by its third
Square root Cardano's "Ars Magna". According to historian of mathematics D.E. Smith, Aryabhata's method for finding the square root was first introduced in Europe by Cataneo in 1546. According to Jeffrey A. Oaks, Arabs used the letter "jīm/ĝīm" (), the first letter of the word “” (variously transliterated as "jaḏr", "jiḏr", "ǧaḏr" or "ǧiḏr", “root”), placed in its initial form () over a number to indicate its square root. The letter "jīm" resembles the present square root shape. Its usage goes as far as the end of the twelfth century in the works of the Moroccan mathematician Ibn al-Yasamin. The symbol '√'