= History of total variation of a function
<Camille Jordan> developed <bounded variation> as part of his work in <real analysis>; his treatment of <functions> and <arc length> was part of the influence of his analysis textbooks.<Marie Ennemond Camille Jordan by John Joseph O'Connor and Edmund Frederick Robertson>[Discussion of Jordan's analysis textbooks, bounded variation and definition of curve length; biography by J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson, last updated March 2001]{ref} The <Jordan decomposition of a function of bounded variation> expresses the underlying idea especially well: complicated changes of direction can be separated into two functions that only increase.
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