[zsmi]

This is why it's fun to know the history of math.

The complex plane was introduced by Caper Wessel in a paper that was published in 1799 so it would've existed before vector notation.

My guess is by the time vectors got popular the complex notation, and theorems that people had proved which used complex notation, had already stuck. But I'm only a hack math historian so I can definitely be wrong here.

I think it's important to keep in mind that math and science, much like the code base that I am trying my hardest to avoid, is evolved.