Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions about terms, definitions and related concepts used in science and mathematics.
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How did the concept of pH originate and develop?
Background & My research
To begin I did some research to find a few articles on the history of pH namely "The Symbol for pH" - William B. Jensen, "One-Hundred Years of pH" - ...
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Was "potency set" used for power set?
Cross posted at Math Overflow
For historical reasons, the English term "power set" in set theory is a translation of the German "Potenzmenge", which is still in use in German ...
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Why energy rate did not replace power = Force times velocity?
After reading the history of horse power (and power), the physical definitions for them and after testing the theory in rally races, I'm curious what were the reasons for selecting this word (power) ...
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Etymology of "power" (math.)
Having done some searches on the internet, seems like the term "power" is a mistranslation. The Wikipedia article links to an article in the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive where it is written
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Why Serre need to develop the concept of "sheaf theory" in algebraic geometry? [duplicate]
I read Edward Frenkel's Love and Math. But reanding this book made me wonder about origin of the concept of the sheaf used in algebraic geometry. I think the conclusion that I came to in the process ...
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Who came up with the Darwinian demon?
I know of Maxwell's, Descartes' and Laplace's demons but I recently found out that there is Darwinian one. I do not think that this demon appears in the works of Charles Darwin. Do you know who may ...
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What is the earliest use of the $\perp\!\!\!\!\perp$ symbol in statistics to denote statistical independence?
The symbol $\perp\!\!\!\!\perp$ in statistics is a way to denote statistical independence of a collection of random variables. I have seen two forms of it. The first is highly suitable in writing ...
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The origin of $∂^2=0$ and $d^2=0$
I know that formula $∂^2=0$ and $d^2=0$ very important in the homology and cohomology theory. And I understand that this formula was generated from the process of finding a solution to the partial ...
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Etymology of "discrete" in mathematics
People sometimes make a distinction between continuous mathematics and discrete mathematics.
Continuous mathematics study objects that abstract the notion of a continuum and typical examples are the ...
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Who introduced the terminology “nondecreasing” for weakly increasing (i.e. x≤y ⇒ f(x)≤f(y)), and when/why?
Arguably one of the most hated parts of English mathematical terminology is the word “nondecreasing”, referring to a function such that $x\leq y \;\Rightarrow\; f(x)\leq f(y)$ (what other conventions ...
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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 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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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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