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
Infinity calculations by dividing the region into infinitesimal strips of width on the order of formula_2 But in "Arithmetica infinitorum" (1655 also) he indicates infinite series, infinite products and infinite continued fractions by writing down a few terms or factors and then appending "&c." For example, "1, 6, 12, 18, 24, &c." In 1699 Isaac Newton wrote about equations with an infinite number of terms in his work "De analysi per aequationes numero terminorum infinitas". Hermann Weyl opened a mathematico-philosophic address given in 1930 with: The infinity symbol formula_1 (sometimes called the lemniscate) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of