HP calculators: origin of prefix key labels f and g

[M Habl]

I am wondering about the motivation of HP developers to label the prefix keys of the RPN calculators in the 70s and 80s by the letters f and g. Obviously, the reason was not absolutely substantive as later angled arrows were invented instead.

[Walter B]

In mathematics, f and g are common names for arbitrary functions. The first appearance of these named prefixes was on the HP-65, which had f, f^(-1), and g, as you can see in this very museum. I think HP took these letters from math - but that's just my personal view.

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

You are absolutely right.

[Eric Smith]

I was a bit disappointed when they left the "f" designation off of the gold shift key on the HP-41C, but somehow I learned to cope. I was happy to see my old friends "f" and "g" again on the Voyager series.

[Thomas Radtke]

It all started with a gold key on the 45, so I take it as a reminicence to the classics. Other calculators like the 27S followed with a plain blue shift key for blue labelled functions.

[Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil)]

I, too, follow your reasoning.

[BobVA]

My high school buddy and I shared a certain amount of astonishment when we saw the "h" shift on the HP-67. This was surely the last word in computation! :-)

Bob

[Eddie W. Shore]

Quote:

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I am wondering about the motivation of HP developers to label the prefix keys of the RPN calculators in the 70s and 80s by the letters f and g. Obviously, the reason was not absolutely substantive as later angled arrows were invented instead.

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I don't know the official reason, but I always assumed that since f and g were common names for functions (f(x), g(x)), HP used f and g as names for alternate functions.

Eddie

[John M (Ottawa)]

Now a better question - when did the practice of using f(x) and g(x) for functions originate? The earliest calculus textbook I have from late 1800s already used f(x) and g(x). Does this originate back to Sir Isaac Newton himself?

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

The notation f(x) for a function of x was first used by Leonard Euler, according to this book:

http://books.google.com.br/books?id=y5jOJLdblrkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22A+Wealth+of+Numbers%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=036tUNf-CYnJ0QG-_IDoDg&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA (see page 208)