Infinity symbol Infinity symbol The infinity symbol (sometimes called the lemniscate) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. The shape of a sideways figure eight has a long pedigree; for instance, it appears in the cross of Saint Boniface, wrapped around the bars of a Latin cross. However, John Wallis is credited with introducing the infinity symbol with its mathematical meaning in 1655, in his "De sectionibus conicis". Wallis did not explain his choice of this symbol, but it has been conjectured to be a variant form of a Roman numeral for 1,000 (originally CIƆ, also CƆ), which was sometimes
Plane at infinity does make it look "special" in comparison to the other planes of the space. If the affine 3-space is real, formula_2, then the addition of a real projective plane formula_3 at infinity produces the real projective 3-space formula_4. Since any two projective planes in a projective 3-space are equivalent, we can choose a homogeneous coordinate system so that any point on the plane at infinity is represented as ("X":"Y":"Z":0). Any point in the affine 3-space will then be represented as ("X":"Y":"Z":1). The points on the plane at infinity seem to have three degrees of freedom, but homogeneous coordinates are equivalent