Editing Exponentiation (section)

=== 20th century ===
As calculation was mechanized, notation was adapted to numerical capacity by conventions in exponential notation. For example [[Konrad Zuse]] introduced [[floating-point arithmetic]] in his 1938 computer Z1. One [[register (computer)|register]] contained representation of leading digits, and a second contained representation of the exponent of 10. Earlier [[Leonardo Torres Quevedo]] contributed ''Essays on Automation'' (1914) which had suggested the floating-point representation of numbers. The more flexible [[decimal floating-point]] representation was introduced in 1946 with a [[Bell Laboratories]] computer. Eventually educators and engineers adopted [[scientific notation]] of numbers, consistent with common reference to [[order of magnitude]] in a [[ratio scale]].<ref>Janet Shiver & Terri Wiilard "[https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Math-in-Science/62/Scientific-Notation/250 Scientific notation: working with orders of magnitude] from [[Visionlearning]]</ref>

For instance, in 1961 the [[School Mathematics Study Group]] developed the notation in connection with units used in the [[metric system]].<ref>School Mathematics Study Group (1961) ''Mathematics for Junior High School'', volume 2, part 1, [[Yale University Press]]</ref><ref>Cecelia Callanan (1967) "Scientific Notation", ''[[The Mathematics Teacher]]'' 60: 252–6 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27957540 JSTOR]</ref>

Exponents also came to be used to describe [[units of measurement]] and [[quantity dimension]]s. For instance, since [[force]] is mass times acceleration, it is measured in kg m/sec<sup>2</sup>. Using M for mass, L for length, and T for time, the expression M L T<sup>–2</sup> is used in [[dimensional analysis]] to describe force.<ref>[[Edwin Bidwell Wilson]] (1920) [https://archive.org/details/aeronauticsclass00wilsrich/page/182/mode/2up Theory of Dimensions], chapter 11 in ''Aeronautics: A Class Text'', via Internet Archive</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1= Bridgman|first1= Percy Williams|title= Dimensional Analysis|publisher= Yale University Press|location= New Haven|date= 1922|oclc= 840631|authorlink=Percy Bridgman|url= https://archive.org/details/dimensionalanaly00bridrich }}</ref>