Before the 18th century it was common to use vincula (straight lines drawn above the operations) to indicate order of operations instead of parentheses. Posted on 2021/04/21 by Carl Robitaille Before the 18th century it was common to use vincula (straight lines drawn above the operations) to indicate order of operations instead of parentheses. pic.twitter.com/GcdK4igaZA— Fermat's Library (@fermatslibrary) April 18, 2021