Question
What is the origin and evolution of the degree symbol, the superscript 'o?'
I am a middle school math teacher and my students asked where the degree symbol
comes from. I had no answer so look to you for help.
Joel
Answer
Try looking here: <br />http://members.aol.com/jeff570/geometry.html <br /> <br />From what this says, it looks like the origin of the symbol (as well as those for minutes and seconds (' and ")) may be lost in history, but at least it's been used since the sixteenth century.
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/geometry.html
history <br />symbols <br />degrees <br />minutes <br />seconds
I haven't found anything to explain the coincident use of the degree symbol for these notably different measures, but I wonder if it might derive from the multiple meanings of the word "degree," reflected in statements such as "the day has become warmer, to some degree." The degree as a measure of angle certainly preceded its use for temperature, as the latter concept is relatively recent in the history of science. <br /> <br />As an aside, I speculate that the use of a round symbol might (in the geometric context only!) relate to the definition of the degree as a specified fraction (1/360) of a circle. However, I can't find anything (inside or outside NSDL) to confirm this. <br /> <br />Best regards, <br />Dave Fulker
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