Technical notation systems proliferated explosively in the mid-twentieth century.
Evidence
New languages are added to the old ones, forming suburbs of the old town: “the symbolism of chemistry and the notation of the infinitesimal calculus.” Thirty-five years later we can add to the list: machine languages, the matrices of game theory, new systems of musical notation, systems of notation for nondenotative forms of logic (temporal logics, deontic logics, modal logics), the language of the genetic code, graphs of phonological structures, and so on. — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 308
Categorization
- XREF: This list of new notation systems instances the language-dissemination thesis that Jameson interprets as postmodern fragmentation. — connects to: IPA’s complexity drove development of computer-friendly phonetic notation systems
- SHARE: The 1984-updated list of new formal languages (game theory, deontic logic, genetic code) is a fun specific detail for someone into the history of formal systems.