Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions about terms, definitions and related concepts used in science and mathematics.
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Who first introduced the term "necessary condition" in mathematical language?
I recently delved into a discussion about a statement attributed to the renowned mathematician and philosopher, Benjamin Peirce. In this statement, he refers to mathematics as "the science that ...
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Who was the first to use bijections?
I know that Bourbaki were the first who used the word 'bijection', but one-to one functions were for sure used before them. So do you aware of the earliest examples of one-to-one correspondences?
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How did the concept of local field emerge and develop in mathematics?
When I was studying class field theory, I saw local class field theory. However, I suddenly became curious about local fields, not local class field theory. As far as I know, the local field is the ...
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Dissemination of Calculus in China
Much has already been written about the dissemination of Euclidean geometry into China: https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/mathematical-treasure-euclid-in-china, https://academic.oup....
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What is the history of the use of the word daughter for a decay product in nuclear physics?
I was browsing the book Isotopes: Principles and Applications by Faure and Mensing and I would like to know what is the history of the use of the word daughter for a decay product. It seems to me that ...
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Origin of $V_a$ (median) notation
My question about median of a triangle.
The English equivalent of the Turkish word "kenarortay" is "median". In English-language geometry sources (like books or web pages), the ...
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What is the origin of the "red, green, yellow" quark color convention?
In physics, quarks come in one of three color states, usually chosen to be called, "red", "green", and "blue". However, because these are just labels, there are other ...
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In a survey of historical science has anyone studied the propensity of other departments to co-opt scientific terminology to further their own ideas?
For example, Albert Einstein complained that sociology departments across the quad were using his theory of relativity to advance the idea of "relativistic morality."
The meaning of ...
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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 ...
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Who first called $\mathrm e$ "Euler's number"?
Euler is usually credited with denoting this number with the letter $\mathrm e$. But
It seems unlikely that Euler chose the letter because it is the initial of his own name, as occasionally been ...
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Light propagated instantaneously rather than gradually
In the following paper from I. Bernard Cohen, "Roemer and the First Determination of the Velocity of Light (1676)" published on Isis (1940):
Can be read:
explaining that the delay would ...
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When was the term "union" first used?
I found out that the symbol for union, ∪, was created in 1895 by Giuseppe Peano in his Formulario Mathematico but of course the use of the word "union" in mathematics was older. Do you have a ...
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Why is one meter as long as it is?
The metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in
a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 of a second
Why is this so? Who decided that 1/299,792,458 of a ...
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What is the etymology of the term space-time?
I'm looking for the earliest references to the word space-time (in the modern sense), in any language.
The first references would likely be in German, as Raum-Zeit or Raumzeit.
Of course, H. Minkowski ...
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What is the story behind various uses of the word "spectrum"?
Here are five distinct uses of the word spectrum in physics and mathematics:
Spectrum (optics): The range of colors in the rainbow
Spectrum (particle physics): The range of electromagnetic ...
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When did the error function get its modern definition?
I am currently writing an essay on the error function and after researching its historical origin, I found out who first defined it: J.W.L. Glaisher. But his definition is different from today's form. ...
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Who coined the term Orthonormal?
Does anyone know who coined the term orthonormal to refer to a basis that is orthogonal and normal?
In such a poorly named mathematical world (looking at you, conditionally convergent series) I think ...
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When did Macaulay rings become Cohen-Macaulay rings?
In his book on commutative rings (published 1970), Kaplansky talks about Macaulay rings. In the mid 1970's, I learned some commutative algebra from a student of his, who referred to these rings as ...
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Use of the verb "induct" in proofs by mathematical induction
Occasionally, in a proof by mathematical induction, the writer will say something like, "We induct on $n$" or "We induct on the number of vertices." This usage of the verb induct ...
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Why did "cold fusion" come to mean Fleischmann-Pons fusion instead of μCF?
Muon-catalysed fusion is obtained at low temperatures, although as of 2018 its energy yield is less than the muon production requirements. The term "cold fusion" was first used in the 1950s, ...
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The etymology of "radio waves"
The word "radio" originates from "radius", which in turn came from "ray". That's why "radius" means any line from a central focal point to any directions.
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Poisson's laws for adiabatic processes
I've been reading about Thermodynamics lately. The set of equations satisfied in an adiabatic process (and also more generally in polytropic ones) is:
$$p_1V_1^\gamma = p_2V_2^\gamma$$
$$T_1V_1^{\...
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"Calories" vs "calories"
Why was it decided to differentiate kcals from calories with a capital 'C'? It seems kind of odd to me.
1 Cal = 1 kcal = 1000 cal
What were the reasons ...
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What is the history on the term 'co-domain'?
I am wondering if anyone knows any more on the history of the term 'co-domain' as it relates to functions.
Two sources I found:
Russell and Whitehead, Principia Mathematica, 1915, page 34 :
the class ...
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Why is it called the butterfly effect?
The pop-sci answer is that Lorenz characterised chaotic atmospheric dynamics with the hypothetical example of a butterfly's flapping wings changing whether a tornado results. However, since butterfly-...
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Terminology associated with mathematical induction
In "Number: The Language of Science" (1930), Tobias Dantzig refers to what we call the base case of mathematical induction as "the induction step" (and refers to what we call the ...
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How did Gaussian and Eisenstein integers get their names?
I can separate this into two questions at some point if necessary, but it's possible that sources for the answer to one will provide the answer to the other at the same time.
I learned about ...
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Katz's symbol 兄 for Gauss-Manin connections
In his famous 1970 paper [1], Nicholas Katz used the character 兄 for the Gauss-Manin connection. I have always been curious about the history behind this symbol.
Question: What motivated Katz to use ...
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The origin and use of the term "equianharmonic" (elliptic function)
In Weierstrass notation, the principal elliptic function $\wp$ is a solution of the differential equation
$$ (\wp')^2= 4\wp^3 -g_2\wp -g_3. $$
The case when $g_3=0$ is called lemniscatic (it ...
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The symbol h for class numbers
We use $h_K$ conventionally to denote the class numbers of number fields $K$.
But I have never thought why the letter $h$ was used for it.
Why and who used $h$ for the class number?
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Why is 'total angular momentum' denoted by the letter $J$ in quantum mechanics?
In quantum mechanics, we say $J$ ('total angular momentum') = $L$ ('orbital angular momentum') + $S$ ('spin angular momentum').
Apparently $S$ is from 'Spin', but why $J$ for the total angular ...
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Weyl's gauge theory and railroad tracks
There is a claim I occasionally read that the origin of the word "gauge" refers to a track gauge used in railroad tracks (the distance between two rails). It's a claim I have seen here, here,...
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What's the difference between Galileo's "impeto" and "momento"?
In Galileo's Two New Sciences, he describes an experiment demonstrating pendulum motion and how the pendulum will rise to the same height from where it started its fall. This discussion can be found ...
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Who coined the term "sulphuretted hydrogen"?
Hydrogen sulfide was previously named "sulphuretted hydrogen" but I can't find the person who named/coined it. Although Carl Wilhelm Scheele is credited to have discovered and isolated the ...
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Where does the term "arm's-length recursion" come from?
I've recently seen the term "arm's-length recursion" for a recursive method with a check that short-circuits the method's true or intended base case. What's the origin of this term? How did ...
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Where does the name "geometric sequence" come from?
On this and other Stack Exchange website, there have been question about the so-called geometric series, and where its name comes from. My problem is that most answers follow one of two different ...
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Who Invented The Number Line?
Recently, I came across this article and wondered if there really is a definitive answer to the question of who invented the number line?
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Who invented the integers?
I know that Kronecker claimed it was God's doing, and that even prehistoric humans used some ways of counting. But I am curious where the idea of a sequence of numbers stretching out into infinity ...
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Why did Sylvester Gates choose the name Adinkra?
Sylvester James Gates was one of the co-discoverers of Adinkras. These are graphical representations of susy (supersymmetry) algebras.
They are named after a West African people — the Akan of Ghana ...
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Origin of the expression "Open problem"
Google Ngram shows that the expression "open problem" started to be in use around the end of the 19th century.
My question is then 2-fold:
Who coined the expression? Wikipedia doesn't seem ...
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Definition and Name Change of the Oscillation Function
I have two related questions:
Who first defined the oscillation function (perhaps under a different name)?
When did the switch from the phrase "saltus function"(*) to "oscillation ...
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Usage of "sphere" as ball's surface vs as ball itself
In everyday English, "sphere" means a round object. People will think of the insides as part of the sphere.
In Mathematics it specifically means the surface of the ball.
How did the ...
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Who coined the name "cosmological constant"?
I am aware that Albert Einstein first added the $\Lambda$-term to his field equations in his 1917 paper "Cosmological considerations in the general theory of relativity" (german: "...
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When was Lipschitz equivalence first attributed to Lipschitz or did Lipschitz formulate it himself?
In his book Introduction to Metric and Topological Spaces, author Wilson A Sutherland in explaining the equivalence of metrics invoked the definition:
Two metrics $d_1, d_2$ on a set $X$ will be ...
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When was the term "Sparingly soluble" first introduced in chemistry?
This question is inspired from: Why do we call salts such as AgCl sparingly soluble?
The extent of solubility can be expressed as descriptive terms. U.S. Pharmacopoeia has made the following ...
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What is the origin of the negation ( ¬ ) operator from logic?
I'm curious as to what the rationale was, and who the idea occurred to, for the ¬ symbol. I'll grant that more common mathematical symbols like +, −, × and ÷ are also likely unknown, but they seem to ...
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Did Kronecker's "ganzen Zahlen" refer to whole numbers as natural numbers or integers?
Maybe this is a question better for German language Stack Exchange, but in the quote attributed to Kronecker:
Die ganzen Zahlen hat der liebe Gott gemacht, alles andere ist Menschenwerk.
So "...
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What is the origin of the term "Ordinary Differential Equation"?
Who first used the term "Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE)"? Is it known why the word "ordinary" is used here? What makes an ODE "ordinary"?
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Origin of the term "affixe"/"affix" in the geometric treatment of complex numbers
In current French mathematical tradition, when introducing complex numbers, it is common to hear about "complex plane of Argand-Cauchy".
What is particular in French treatment, it is the ...
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First use of "Spur" (trace) for linear maps / matrices
Every student of linear algebra learns about the trace of a linear map. Its easiest (albeit not most conceptual) definition is: write the map as matrix, then the trace is the sum of the diagonal ...
