When one value is greater than another, the greater than sign (>) is used to indicate the relationship between them. Its geometric meaning can be interpreted as: for any two real numbers A and B, their corresponding points A and B can be found on the same axis. If point a is to the right of point b, then A >；; B.

When one value is less than another value, the less than sign (

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It is generally believed that harriet, a British mathematician, used it in 163 1, and the symbol of greater than sign and less than sign he used himself should be in 163 1.

Thomas Harriot Thomas Harriot (1560–162 1), a famous British astronomer, mathematician and translator, died in London on July 2, 2008. In his book Artis Analyticae Praxis, the symbol ""was first used, but it was not published until 163 1 year after his death.

Therefore, it is generally considered that it was 163 1 year. At present, the commonly used symbols such as "greater than sign", "greater than sign" and "less than sign" were not accepted by the mathematics community at that time, and it was not until more than one hundred years later that they gradually became standard application symbols.