Questions tagged [mathematicians]
For questions about those who do mathematics.
252
questions
4
votes
1answer
95 views
For many years, were Emmy Noether and Helene Braun the only female mathematicians to obtain habilitation at Göttingen University?
Emmy Noether was the first woman in Germany to obtain habilitation in 1919. But I remember to have heard in the debate concerning the situation of women in academic mathematics that took place on the ...
2
votes
0answers
49 views
How much ground was prepared for Riemann so that he could conjecture Riemann hypothesis?
Although I do not doubt in Riemann˙s originality, I would like to know how much complex analysis was developed up to the day when Riemann conjectured what is today called Riemann hypothesis and how ...
1
vote
0answers
38 views
Where did the Delannoy numbers make their first appearance?
I am writing a short exposition on the central Delannoy numbers and would like to find the year which Henri Delannoy first introduced them in a formal setting.
I believe Delannoy's initial ...
5
votes
0answers
82 views
What was Littlewood's quip about Hardy and plagiarism?
I'm searching for a quote by Littlewood about Hardy not giving proper credit. The story (as I remember it) is that Littlewood claimed uncredited authorship of something Hardy wrote, Hardy claimed it ...
7
votes
2answers
199 views
What did G.H. Hardy teach Ramanujan?
Ramanujan didn't know modern mathematics. he lacked idea regarding analysis.
I found in Wikipedia-
Hardy tried his best to fill the gaps in Ramanujan's education and to
mentor him in the need for ...
0
votes
0answers
35 views
Did Lagrange finish his law degree during the 1750s?
According to this Lagrange enrolled in the University of Turin to study law in the 1750 but eventually shifted to math.
0
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0answers
70 views
In which year did Lagrange start studying mathematics - 1752 or 1753?
Some articles indicate that he started studying maths "after reading an article by Edmund Halley" in 1753 but in this paper it is claimed that he started studying mathematics in 1752
2
votes
1answer
42 views
Where did Krull dimension and zero-dimensional ideals come from?
I am trying to comprehend an article about primary decomposition of ideals. Zero - dimensional ideals are quite emphasized there. I wonder where zero - dimensional ideals come from, what is the ...
1
vote
1answer
119 views
Pairs of Mathematicians
In Hilbert by Reid, it is noted that Hilbert and Minkowski were great friends and often worked together on problems, seminars, and lectures. This is a similar relationship to the partnership between ...
5
votes
1answer
101 views
When did Dehn start to work on Hilbert's third problem?
According to this wiki article, Dehn solved Hilbert's third problem within a year.
Did Dehn start to work on the third problem after Hilbert's talk? Since Dehn is Hilbert's student, they were likely ...
0
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0answers
94 views
Why didn't Euclid use equations or numerals in his proofs?
I think the Elements would have been a lot more concise if he did.
9
votes
1answer
185 views
Alexander Grothendieck's “stolen” correspondence in 1985?
On the website that now displays the part of Grothendieck's archives that had been held at the University of Montpellier, it is mentioned that:
Dans une lettre adressée à Monsieur Lefranc datée du ...
4
votes
2answers
220 views
substantiating claimed Fourier quote about “an arbitrarily capricious graph”
There is a quote fairly widely attributed to Fourier, but I can't substantiate it. That is, I can't verify that he actually said or wrote it (in any language). Can anyone help me out? Here is the ...
3
votes
1answer
76 views
Where to get more biographical information about Fritz Peter?
Fritz Peter (1899–1949) is known mainly as one of the authors of the Peter-Weyl theorem. This theorem appears in a paper (Die Vollständigkeit der primitiven Darstellungen einer geschlossenen ...
2
votes
1answer
175 views
Where did Mac Lane say he saw Hitler and wished that he had a gun so he could have shot him?
In Saunders Mac Lane's autobiography he described how he visited, I think Königsberg, then the centre of mathematics in Germany. He also reported he that he saw Hitler somewhere and that he wished ...
6
votes
1answer
142 views
Did Cauchy ever deal with double or triple integrals?
Did Cauchy ever deal with double or triple integrals? Did he give rigorous proofs of multivariable integral calculus like what came to be called Stokes's theorem, the divergence theorem, etc.?
-1
votes
1answer
46 views
Who first distinguished number theory and numerology? [duplicate]
Who first distinguished number theory and numerology?
2
votes
1answer
129 views
First time the unique factorization theorem was called FTA
First of all, a comment, before this gets marked as a duplicate:
I have searched this website for the question I’m asking and I’m aware that this exact question has been asked before. However, Eric ...
0
votes
0answers
93 views
Why isn't François Proth's name used for Gilbreath's conjecture as he discovered & published a proof 80 years earlier?
According to Wikipedia's Gilbreath's conjecture page,
The statement is named after mathematician Norman L. Gilbreath who, in 1958, presented it to the mathematical community after observing the ...
3
votes
1answer
208 views
How did Hagoromo Fulltouch chalk gain so much popularity among mathematicians in the West?
I recently read Hagoromo, the 'Rolls Royce of chalk,' continues writing its legacy in South Korea article recently, and was fascinated by the huge amount of attention this specific chalk is getting. ...
3
votes
0answers
53 views
Asymptotically Periodic Potentials
Who came up with the idea of solving elliptic equations with periodic potentials and from there solving elliptic equations with asymptotically periodic potentials? I heard it was Pierre Louis Lions, ...
2
votes
0answers
78 views
Textbooks used by Oliver Heaviside
Oliver Heaviside achieved a very high level in mathematics and physics by self-study, starting from a modest school-level math, and working alone in his room, without a tutor. Is it known what ...
4
votes
0answers
123 views
Is there a biography of Robert Risch?
The Risch algorithm for computing symbolic integrals was developed by Robert Risch in the 1968-70 time frame.
Based on the German Wikipedia article, I know that Risch was awarded a Ph.D. by U.C. ...
0
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0answers
91 views
Is there any general difference between British, French and German mathematicians?
I am recently learning about teaching the history of mathematics. Gradually, impressions about mathematicians in different countries develops in my mind. I just want to ask, whether it is helpful to ...
4
votes
1answer
161 views
What was the problem that led to Calculus discovery
As far as I remember,
Calculus was invented/discover/founded by Newton.
But what he was trying to achieve that made him find the limit of of difference approaching zero.
how far did he get into ...
2
votes
3answers
235 views
Great scientists with chaotic private lives
In the arena of art, it is not uncommon to find great writers, composers or painters who suffer from chaotic personal lives (e.g., lifelong alcoholism, addiction to prostitutes, stormy marriages and ...
3
votes
0answers
153 views
What was Havil's source for the statement that G.H. Hardy would offer his Savillian chair to whoever could prove $\gamma$ irrational?
In Havil's 2003 book Gamma he states that Hardy offered up his chair in Oxford to whoever could prove that the Euler-Mascheroni constant $\gamma$ is irrational.
I'm almost positive I had heard a ...
3
votes
4answers
181 views
Are there any sources of mathematicians talking about their research methods?
I recall reading this article that was written to explain how Descartes read philosophy effectively. I am wondering if such analogous tips have been made by past mathematicians?
3
votes
1answer
91 views
Who coined the term random variable?
Who is the first person defined the concept of a random variable?
17
votes
3answers
3k views
What does it mean by “d-ism of Leibniz” and “dotage of Newton” in simple English?
I am reading this article by Donald E. Knuth and get stuck by this sentence:
Our mathematical language continues to improve, just as “the d-ism of
Leibniz overtook the dotage of Newton” in past ...
2
votes
0answers
84 views
Who first “depressed” the cubic equation?
In his Ars Magna Cardano specifies procedures to "depress" a cubic - a means to convert an equation such as $x^3+6x^2=100$ to $y^3=84+12y$, eliminating the $x^2$ term.
Was he the one who discovered ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
The convention for speakers to refer to themselves at the board with a single initial
I found an interesting question on Math SE asked by @KCd, but it is over four years old without a clear answer. Since it seems to be more on topic here than on Math SE, I thought to post it here in ...
3
votes
1answer
153 views
How did philosophers and scientists in the 18th century view mathematical explanation?
The 18th century saw a rise in the use of mathematical formalisms to account for natural phenomena. Works of Lagrange, Euler, d'Alembert, etc., were groundbreaking in the history of mechanics and ...
6
votes
1answer
94 views
The minimax theorem from 1928 to 1956
Minimax theorems are beautiful saddle-point results regarding conditions on a function $f$ under which $\max_x \min_y f(x,y) = \min_y \max_x f(x,y)$. In the common "normal form" game case, $x$ and $y$ ...
7
votes
1answer
336 views
What's that on Euler's head? Does the head covering shown in Emanuel Handmann 1753 painting signify scholarship?
This may be borderline off-topic but this is the only place that I can think of ask this particular question.
I've always seen images of Leonhard Euler with a "hat" or head covering that is ...
11
votes
2answers
258 views
History of various definitions of topology
I have been reading Point Set Topology for a while, and turns out that there are various possible ways to define a topology. Most popular one is using open set axioms. Another one is using closure ...
3
votes
1answer
167 views
How long would it have taken Cole to multiply the factors of $M_{67}$ on a blackboard?
The famous anecdote of the 1903 announcement of the factorization of $2^{67}-1$ by Frank Nelson Cole has recently been discussed, for example in light of the announcement of another "twitter-sized" ...
7
votes
1answer
227 views
Did Cambridge change their BSc policy for Ramanujan?
I found this quote at Quora:
In March 1916 Ramanujan graduated from Cambridge with a Bachelor of Science by Research (This degree was later renamed as Ph.D. from 1920) for his work on Highly ...
3
votes
0answers
157 views
Can we fairly assess Ada Lovelace's talent for mathematics?
Dorothy Stein, a biographer of Ada Lovelace, was pretty blunt in her assessment: Lovelace was a mediocre mathematician, for example see here.
I wonder if she's fair to her. The fact that Lovelace ...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
Was multivariable calculus particularly prominent in Italy?
From my classes I don't hear about a lot of italian mathematicians, but two of them, Fubini and Tonelli, are both related to multivariable calculus. Is there a reason for this? Just a coincidence? Or ...
0
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0answers
88 views
Is it the 'd' or 'D' operator?
Philip J. Davis' article on the history of the gamma function (PDF) mentions how Leibniz proposed the iterated differential operator (p. 851 in the upper right corner, or p. 3 of the PDF, about half-...
8
votes
1answer
121 views
Who first proved that only primes of the form $4k+1$ divide odd integers of the form $n^2+1$?
I am writing a paper and I would like to cite the person(s) who proved that only primes of the form $4k+1$ can evenly divide odd integers of the form $n^2+1$?
For example, if $n=8$, $n^2 + 1 = 65$ ...
3
votes
1answer
397 views
Why didn't John von Neumann win the Turing Award, Fields Medal or Nobel Prize?
From what I've read in Wikipedia, John von Neumann made a stupendous number of contributions to economics, computer science and mathematics. Why, then, didn't he receive a top award in any of these ...
4
votes
0answers
98 views
Courant (1943) and History of Finite Element Method
I am interested in the history of Finite Element Methods and Methods of Weighted Residuals (MWR), especially reduced quadrature and collocation methods. I have a paper coming out called “Orthogonal ...
7
votes
1answer
218 views
Did the author of Alice in Wonderland make any substantial original discoveries in mathematics?
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name of Lewis Carroll, was a mathematics lecturer at Oxford University and today is primarily famous for his fanciful stories laced with mathematical ...
73
votes
16answers
24k views
Examples of when the professional scientists or mathematicians were wrong, but the nonprofessionals were right?
What are the most glaring examples -- if any -- of when the professional scientists or mathematicians were wrong, but the nonprofessionals were right?
1
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0answers
81 views
Who came up with a formula expressing the sign function in terms of the absolute value?
I read here and here that Karl Weierstrass used "| |" to indicate absolute value in 1841. The same sources indicate that Leopold Kronecker wrote of the sign function in 1878. Here it is indicated that ...
0
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1answer
125 views
Who was the first person who emphasis the importance of proof?
I think it should be an ancient Greek mathematician who was interested in proving all triangle has inner angles summing to 180 degree? Was it Thales?
0
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2answers
376 views
Why do mathematicians call ~ 'twiddle'?
Every one of my lecturers have always called it this, as do I, despite the fact that I know its properly called 'tilde'. Does anyone have any clue where this convention comes from and why it might ...
0
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0answers
42 views
Modern Views on Pythagoras [duplicate]
I've done a lot of research on Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans and am currently in a state of uncertainty. I do believe Pythagoras existed, but I am unsure if he can be given credit to hardly anything ...
