# All Questions

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### Can any one person be credited with “inventing” algebra?

I have been told by a computer scientist that most people in that field believe that algebra was invented (along with algorithms) by the 9th century mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. (I ...
0answers
18 views

### When was the ratio between electric and magnetic force established?

We know that the attractive force of B and a particle was found by J.J.Johnson in 1881, with a slight mistake, and then corrected by Heavyside in 1885 FM = v x B Can you tell me when was discovered ...
1answer
56 views

### Are these Newton's quotes apocryphal?

I have stumbled upon the following alleged Newton's quotes, but I could not find them in any of their works. No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. No sciences are better ...
1answer
78 views

### Why are revolutions per minute (RPM) still used instead of hertz (Hz)?

When did people start using Revolutions per Minute (RPM) to measure motors, engines, other devices and where did the term originate? Why do we continue to use it instead of an SI unit like Hz? From ...
0answers
67 views

### Do other branches of modern science have interpretations like Quantum Mechanics does?

As a layperson, when one learns about Quantum Mechanics, one also learns about the various interpretations of QM-- Many Worlds, Collapse, Pilot Wave theory, etc. However, as far as I can tell (from ...
1answer
52 views

### What was the chain of theories that led to relativity? [on hold]

Can you briefly sketch the sequence of math theories that were necessary for Einstein to figure out a convincing background for relativity?
0answers
71 views

### Ala-El-Din Muhammed El Ferjumedhi

I'm looking for more details of a 14th century mathematician Ala-El-Din Muhammad El Ferjumedhi. I'm translating a popular book on the history of mathematics, and there is one figure that shows a ...
0answers
47 views

### Were fluxions the only infinitesimals?

The Encyclopaedia Britannica in its history of Science article states that Newton integrals were made of infinitesimals, whereas Leibniz' were made of sticks and that the former's theory prevailed. ...
2answers
2k views

### Who discovered the covering homomorphism between SU(2) and SO(3)?

Who discovered this? It is quite nontrivial and very important in quantum mechanics.
0answers
80 views

### Translations of “Sur le théorème de Zorn”?

Are there any translations of Nicolas Bourbaki (1949). "Sur le théorème de Zorn". Archiv der Mathematik. 2: 434–437. doi:10.1007/bf02036949. into English, German, or Russian? Any help is ...
1answer
79 views

### For shared Nobel prizes, where does the medal go?

When a Nobel prize is awarded to multiple people, the prize money is split. But what about the actual medal - how do they determine who will keep and store it? Been reading through the pages on ...
1answer
68 views

### Who first proved that the spectrum of an operator is contained in the closure of its numerical range?

We have recently proven in our functional analysis II lecture that the spectrum of an operator is contained in the closure of its numerical range. On the German wikipedia page for the numerical radius ...
0answers
64 views

2answers
74 views

### How does Charles Babbage's Difference Engine solve his quest for automating Log Tables?

At the London Science Museum, we see a model built in 1999 of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No.2 based on the plans he left: We know that Charles Babbage wrote a book of log tables: In doing ...
0answers
72 views

### Where does the notion of “three crises of mathematics” come from? [duplicate]

Update: It can be traced back to Fraenkel-Bar-Hillel's Foundations of Set Theory, originally published in 1958. Further discussions can be seen at the linked question. The notion of "three crises of ...
1answer
75 views

### Did Charles Babbage lay out his log table like this?

We read that Charles Babbage was interested in building a machine to tabulate polynomial functions. This came from writing a book of log tables. Here we see an example of how to use a log table: My ...
1answer
121 views

### What is the modern context of Gauss's work on triangles with integer sides and circumradius?

In chapter V of volume 2 of Dickson's "History of the theory of numbers" (p.191-195), which collects results on "rational" triangles (triangles with integer side lengths), apear several results on the ...
1answer
131 views

### When did mathematicians transition from peg and rope to straightedege and compass?

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the student of classical Greek geometry used "straight edge and compass". A. Seidenberg uses the terminology "peg and cord" in proposing that altar construction ...
3answers
347 views

### What is the origin of the $\hbar$ symbol?

Equations involving Planck's constant, $h ,$ are often simplified by instead writing them in terms of the reduced Planck's constant, $\hbar \equiv \frac{h}{2 \pi}.$ But where did the symbol for the ...
0answers
66 views

### Does Einstein's original derivation of E=MC^2 exist and what is it?

I read an article published by Scientific American stating Einstein did not prove the equation within the context of Special Relativity but I am skeptical. I was hoping someone could point me in the ...
0answers
60 views

### pre-20th century sources on information theory?

What are some pre-19th or pre-20th century sources on information theory? Do they exist?
0answers
25 views

### Usage of terms prior and posterior in probability

Probability function is of two types in general. They are unconditional probability and conditional probability. But the terms prior probability and posterior probability are used in place of ...
1answer
208 views

### Why are 'speed' and 'velocity' not given the same name?

Position is a vector. Distance/length is a name of its magnitude. Velocity is a vector. Speed is a name of its magnitude. Acceleration is a name of a vector and its magnitude. Force is a name of a ...
4answers
150 views

0answers
94 views

### Did Paul Dirac believe in multiple universes?

Prominent physicist Paul Dirac proposed a hypothesis that said that constants and laws of physics would evolve with time into different constants and laws of nature. This hypothesis was used by ...

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