Editing Number line (section)

==History==
The first mention of the number line used for operation purposes is found in [[John Wallis]]'s ''Treatise of Algebra'' (1685).<ref>Wallis, John (1685). [https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_a-treatise-of-algebra-_wallis-john_1685/mode/2up ''Treatise of Algebra''], [https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_a-treatise-of-algebra-_wallis-john_1685/page/264 p. 265].</ref> In his treatise, Wallis describes addition and subtraction on a number line in terms of moving forward and backward, under the metaphor of a person walking.

An earlier depiction without mention to operations, though, is found in [[John Napier]]'s ''A Description of the Admirable Table of Logarithmes'' (1616), which shows values 1 through 12 lined up from left to right.<ref>Napier, John (1616). [https://www.math.ru.nl/werkgroepen/gmfw/bronnen/napier1.html ''A Description of the Admirable Table of Logarithmes'']</ref>

Contrary to popular belief, [[René Descartes]]'s original {{lang|fr|[[La Géométrie]]}} does not feature a number line, defined as we use it today, though it does use a coordinate system. In particular, Descartes's work does not contain specific numbers mapped onto lines, only abstract quantities.<ref>Núñez, Rafael (2017). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200129052058/http://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/~nunez/COGS152_Readings/Nunez_ch3_MN.pdf "How Much Mathematics Is 'Hardwired', If Any at All: Biological Evolution, Development, and the Essential Role of Culture"]. Maria D. Sera, Michael Maratsos and Stephanie M. Carlson (2017). ''Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology: Culture and Developmental Systems, Volume 38: Culture and Developmental Systems''. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 98. {{ISBN|9781119247654}}. {{OCLC|961910599}}.</ref>