Timeline for Origin of "string"
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 29, 2023 at 21:42 | comment | added | John Skiles Skinner | I have marked this answer as correct though it is a little brief. It seems clear based on multiple sources that "string" comes from math, logic and formal systems. This answer is quite an early illustration. I have updated Wikipedia with the C. I. Lewis quotation. | |
| Jan 29, 2023 at 21:40 | vote | accept | John Skiles Skinner | ||
| Jan 27, 2023 at 20:32 | comment | added | Kaz | @Carl-FredrikNybergBrodda A string of digits (e.g. decimal) is absolutely a mathematical object. The digits are the coefficients of a polynomial which evaluates to the digits value, when the base is substituted into the polynomial. For instance given p(x) = 1x³ + 2x² + 3x + 4, p(10) evaluates to 1234. We could express the polynomial as a vector dot product [1 2 3 4]・ [x³ x² x 1]. The vector on the left is our string of digits. | |
| Jan 27, 2023 at 10:04 | comment | added | Carl-Fredrik Nyberg Brodda | @LeoB My point is that, as stated, the question has an answer dating back to the 15th century, so your use from 1878 is very modern. The more interesting question (as confirmed by the OP, I have no idea what you mean by forcing) is its use as an abstract term in mathematics. | |
| Jan 27, 2023 at 9:12 | comment | added | Leo B. | @Carl-FredrikNybergBrodda The question as formulated does not ask about the first example of the use of "string" as an abstract mathematical concept. You've invented that aspect yourself, and now you're forcing it on others. Don't do that. | |
| Jan 26, 2023 at 21:29 | comment | added | Carl-Fredrik Nyberg Brodda | @LeoB. Your example of "string of digits" falls out of the category of abstract mathematical concept (there is nothing abstract about it) and into the category of "a number of objects arranged in a line". This sense was, as another answer notes, already recorded centuries ago. So your example is neither the first example of the use of "string" as an abstract mathematical concept nor as a term in English. | |
| Jan 26, 2023 at 18:26 | comment | added | Leo B. | @JohnSkilesSkinner The oldest occurrence in a "computational" context I was able to find is from 1878, google.com/books/edition/… referring to a number so large that is perceived just as a "string of digits" rather than a number with an understandable magnitude. | |
| Jan 26, 2023 at 16:37 | history | edited | Barmar | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Use quote formatting
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| Jan 26, 2023 at 16:02 | comment | added | Carl-Fredrik Nyberg Brodda | @JohnSkilesSkinner No, I am quoting Lewis. He isn’t quoting anyone. | |
| Jan 26, 2023 at 15:57 | comment | added | John Skiles Skinner | A great find from a fascinating book! Is the author quoting Whitehead and Russell? I can't quite tell if it's intended as a quotation | |
| Jan 26, 2023 at 14:24 | history | edited | Carl-Fredrik Nyberg Brodda | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 60 characters in body
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| S Jan 26, 2023 at 14:16 | review | First answers | |||
| Jan 26, 2023 at 15:06 | |||||
| S Jan 26, 2023 at 14:16 | history | answered | Carl-Fredrik Nyberg Brodda | CC BY-SA 4.0 |