06-16-2026, 02:14 AM
The Decimal Point Is 150 Years Older
by [nature]
Summary
The article reports a historical discovery suggesting that the decimal point appeared about 150 years earlier than previously believed. Researchers analyzing 15th-century manuscripts by the Venetian merchant and mathematician Giovanni Bianchini found that he was already using a dot notation in the 1440s while working on astronomical and trigonometric tables.
This allowed him to represent and compute decimal fractions in a way similar to modern methods, predating the traditionally credited first use by Christopher Clavius in 1593. The finding implies that key elements of decimal notation—and thus more efficient numerical calculation—emerged during the Italian Renaissance rather than later, reshaping historians’ understanding of how modern mathematical conventions developed.
ARTICLE PAGE
by [nature]
Summary
The article reports a historical discovery suggesting that the decimal point appeared about 150 years earlier than previously believed. Researchers analyzing 15th-century manuscripts by the Venetian merchant and mathematician Giovanni Bianchini found that he was already using a dot notation in the 1440s while working on astronomical and trigonometric tables.
This allowed him to represent and compute decimal fractions in a way similar to modern methods, predating the traditionally credited first use by Christopher Clavius in 1593. The finding implies that key elements of decimal notation—and thus more efficient numerical calculation—emerged during the Italian Renaissance rather than later, reshaping historians’ understanding of how modern mathematical conventions developed.
ARTICLE PAGE
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