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6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / k. Imaginary numbers

[numbers which are negative when squared]

1 idea
By adding an axis of imaginary numbers, we get the useful 'number plane' instead of number line [Clegg]
     Full Idea: The realisation that brought 'i' into the toolkit of physicists and engineers was that you could extend the 'number line' into a new dimension, with an imaginary number axis at right angles to it. ...We now have a 'number plane'.
     From: Brian Clegg (Infinity: Quest to Think the Unthinkable [2003], Ch.12)