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Interesting factoid: "real numbers" are called that to distinguish them from "imaginary numbers." The latter term was not meant as an improper noun, but a prop
by vharuck 4y ago
Interesting factoid: "real numbers" are called that to distinguish them from "imaginary numbers." The latter term was not meant as an improper noun, but a proper insult. Some mathematicians called them imaginary to imply that branch of mathematics had no basis or use in reality. The term stuck, even though we found plenty of uses.
- xigoi 4y agoWell, that's not the first time something like this happened. An ancient mathematician was murdered for discovering irrational numbers, and the name given to them is also quite insulting.