Infinity symbol, computer artwork. There are many explanations for why this particular symbol might have come to represent the concept of infinity. John Wallis is often credited with introducing the symbol in 1655 in his De sectionibus conicis. It has been suggested the symbol was chosen as it derived from the Etruscan numeral for 1000, which looks similar and was sometimes used to mean 'many'. Another conjecture is that it represents an hour glass lying on its side, as the action would cause the hour glass to take infinite time to empty, and might have been used as a physical example of the theoretical mathematical concept.