Other Free Encyclopedias :: Science Encyclopedia :: Science Encyclopedia Vol 3 :: Function - History Of Functions, Characteristics Of Functions, Classification Of Functions

Function - History Of Functions

History of functions

The idea of a function was developed in the seventeenth century. During this time, Rene Descartes (1596-1650), in his book Geometry (1637), used the concept to describe many mathematical relationships. The term "function" was introduced by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) almost fifty years after the publication of Geometry. The idea of a function was further formalized by Leonhard Euler (pronounced "oiler" 1707-1783) who introduced the notation for a function, y = f(x).


User Comments Add a comment…

8 months ago

Who was the first mathemetician to develop log functions I need to know everyone says Napier tell me they are wrong

about 1 year ago

I love Calculus!!!!