Editing Order of operations (section)

==History==

The order of operations emerged progressively over centuries. The rule that multiplication has precedence over addition was incorporated into the development of [[Mathematical notation|algebraic notation]] in the 1600s, since the distributive property implies this as a natural hierarchy. As recently as the 1920s, the historian of mathematics [[Florian Cajori]] identifies disagreement about whether multiplication should have precedence over division, or whether they should be treated equally. The term "order of operations" and the "PEMDAS/BEDMAS" mnemonics were formalized only in the late 19th or early 20th century, as demand for standardized textbooks grew.
Ambiguity about issues such as whether implicit multiplication takes precedence over explicit multiplication and division in such expressions as ''a''/2''b'', which could be interpreted as ''a''/(2''b'') or (''a''/2)&nbsp;×&nbsp;''b'', imply that the conventions are not yet completely stable.<ref name="Jensen2013"/><ref name="Peterson2000"/>