epsilon delta proof

Question

I have tried understanding this proof at least 3 times now thinking it would clear up eventually. It has not.

I don’t know why we have to assign these special variables epsilon and delta in the first place, why not a and b, or any other regular letter? is there some history with epsilon/delta?

Can someone explain it’s significance in it’s most basic form? like before you even try applying it to a derivative using the fundamental limit theorem?

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

First, Greek letters are fairly commonly used to represent mathematical variables, constants, and other concepts. In this context, episilon was historically used to represent infinitessimals and delta was historically used to represent change.