Yeah, the subtle difference is that discovering a geometric concept and being able to express it in a compact and flexible notation are not quite the same. It'

Yeah, the subtle difference is that discovering a geometric concept and being able to express it in a compact and flexible notation are not quite the same. It's very easy to take for granted the sheer amount of innovation and ideas that went into being able to express that formula just because they are grade school topics today. The concept and acceptance of irrational numbers, the relationship between geometry and algebra, the use of symbols in algebra and even assigning symbols for special real numbers took centuries and a steady stream of creative leaps of genius. An excellent and detailed explanation I highly recommend can be found here: https://hsm.stackexchange.com/a/1872 https://hsm.stackexchange.com/a/1872.