<P> 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 used to mean `` many '' , or of the Greek letter ω ( omega ) , the last letter in the Greek alphabet . </P>
<P> 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 used to mean `` many '' , or of the Greek letter ω ( omega ) , the last letter in the Greek alphabet . </P>
what is the origin of the infinity symbol
what is the origin of the infinity symbol
John Wallis is credited with introducing the infinity symbol with its mathematical meaning in 1655 , in his De sectionibus conicis
John Wallis is credited with introducing the infinity symbol with its mathematical meaning in 1655 , in his De sectionibus conicis