Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions about terms, definitions and related concepts used in science and mathematics.
354
questions
16
votes
2
answers
492
views
What is the origin of "an algebra" as in vector space with multiplication?
What is the origin of calling a vector space over a field $F$ endowed with multiplication an algebra? Tried searching, but not surprisingly Google likes to drop the article and just bring me to the ...
CommunityBot
- 1
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What is the origin of "ortho-," "meta-," "para-," in chemistry?
The prefix "ortho-" means straight or right; "meta-" means beyond or after; "para-" means beside or along. How, then, did ortho-, meta- and para- come to refer to the carbon positions one, two, and ...
- 441
7
votes
1
answer
310
views
Why do English volume units use base 2?
I would post this on Quora, since it is more of a "just wondering" sort of question, except that I much prefer StackExchange's platform:
As weird as Imperial units generally are, English volume units ...
CommunityBot
- 1
4
votes
1
answer
124
views
Were integrals really called solution curves (or vice versa)?
For some reason I recall hearing that around the time Euler wrote his Calculus books (1768-1770), or even before then, what we call integrals now were called solution cuvres (or even possibly the ...
- 73.6k
7
votes
2
answers
368
views
When was the convention for the indefinite integral $\int\frac{1}{x}dx$ changed?
In Europe, in the 20th century, $\int\frac{1}{x}dx$ equalled $\ln{x}+C$. (I have references from Poland for 1930-1947 and the UK for the 1960s and 1970s).
Now, if one mentions $\int\frac{1}{x}dx=\ln{...
- 1
3
votes
2
answers
621
views
Introduction of $\imath$ and $\jmath$ notations for the imaginary unit
The imaginary unit is generally denoted $i$ or $\imath$. I have learned that the term imaginary ("imaginaires") was coined by R. Descartes in 1637, and the "i" notation was introduced by L. Euler (cf. ...
CommunityBot
- 1
3
votes
3
answers
300
views
First mention of Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic
Without a Disquisitiones Arithmeticae at hand, I may ask... When the unique factorization theorem was first called the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic?
- 3,415
9
votes
1
answer
15k
views
Why are microwaves called "microwaves", when they are much longer than a micrometer?
If "millimeter waves" have a wavelength of about 1 mm, one might linguistically expect microwaves to have a wavelength of about three orders of magnitude less, not the same or greater. How did ...
CommunityBot
- 1
5
votes
1
answer
184
views
Origins and history of branched covering
During my research on branched coverings of the projective plane, I am interested to know the origins and history of branched coverings of the projective plane and the projective line, together with ...
- 1,506
0
votes
1
answer
113
views
on the classification of singular points
After reading this question and the answers to it, I am interested o know who were the first mathematicians who started classifying singular points of curves: i.e. different kind of nodes, of cusps ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
0
answers
95
views
Which is the first reference using the terminology "Chinese Remainder Theorem" for this theorem?
The Chinese Remainder Theorem is one of the fundamental theorems in modular arithmetic. As far as I know, this terminology for the theorem is due to the fact that the Chinese mathematicians were the ...
1
vote
1
answer
128
views
Why were nature, natural science, physics, medicine all considered the same subject and so defined with the same noun?
This question pursues the history of this noun and its etymons; compare with ELU and FSE.
physic (n.)
[1.] c. 1300, fysike, "art of healing, medical science," also "natural science&...
CommunityBot
- 1
5
votes
1
answer
284
views
Who coined kernel in mathematics?
I'm convinced that there is no such a mathematician whose name is "kernel". The wiki article about kernel doesn't include history in its content.
So I wonder, who is the first mathematician to use ...
Danu♦
- 3,812
9
votes
1
answer
605
views
Who was first to differentiate between prime and irreducible elements?
I recently learned about irreducible and prime elements in a commutative ring. However, my professor was not quite sure who was the first to make this distinction, or give an example of an irreducible ...
- 73.6k
10
votes
1
answer
713
views
What is the origin of the "virtual particle pair" metaphor for vacuum fluctuations?
In any layman level description of vacuum fluctuations in quantum field theory the fluctuations are described as a pair of virtual particles spontaneously appearing then disappearing within some short ...
CommunityBot
- 1
1
vote
0
answers
161
views
How did "one-to-one" come to be used to refer to injective functions?
I have always had a hard time explaining to my students the term one-to-one. After making sure my students understand "in", "sur" and "bi", the Bourbaki terms, injective, ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
2
answers
276
views
Separability and second countability is the same thing to Halmos
I was browsing through Paul Halmos' classic book on measure theory from 1950, when I came by the following definition of separability on page 3 in the chapter on prerequisites:
Today a separable ...
CommunityBot
- 1
8
votes
1
answer
966
views
Where did Master equations come from, and why are there so many of them?
The Wikipedia article about the Master equations describes pretty well how many there are and what kind of equations are called "Master equations".
Does anyone know where the term originates, why ...
- 73.6k
3
votes
1
answer
100
views
Origin of use of "quotient" to describe structures induced by equivalence classes
I'm sure this question has been asked somewhere, but I have been unable to find it. Why is it that when we have some set $X$ with an equivalence relation $\equiv$, and $X$ has some structure (e.g. a ...
CommunityBot
- 1
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is the origin of the use of "g" for a Riemannian metric?
I am asking about the reason for the use of this letter, if known, as well as the initial occasion of its use. Ideas that have been suggested concerning the former include:
That it stands for ...
- 73.6k
5
votes
1
answer
918
views
Modern usage of alchemical symbols
As far as I know, not many (if any) alchemical symbols have survived in modern nomenclature of science, either in chemistry or any other. I think $\LaTeX$ doesn't even support most of them! I know ...
- 73.6k
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Origin of the word "vector" [closed]
I would like to know the history and the original meaning of the word "vector". Thank you for any hints.
- 10.2k
5
votes
1
answer
219
views
What was the evolution of "basis" and "generating set" in algebra?
Today, I've heard someone speak of a basis (of an ideal), meaning a generating set. All the time, I was fine with the term Gröbner-basis, but when it comes without the prefix, it's a bit funny, since ...
- 73.6k
3
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why does the start of the calendar year not correspond to a natural event?
Why is Jan. 1, the start of a new year, several days after the Winter Solstice, instead of coinciding with a solstice or equinox or other natural annual event?
Note: The question does not ask why ...
CommunityBot
- 1
7
votes
2
answers
573
views
Historical roots of the justification for the rule for multiplication of negative numbers
As a follow up question with respect to : Who wrote down minus times minus is equal to plus? and to : Historically, how did people define multiplication for negative numbers?, it can be interesting to ...
CommunityBot
- 1
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What did Dedekind's The Nature and Meaning of Numbers contribute to the founding of Set Theory?
As best as I can tell Dedekind's paper was published in 1887 already several years after Cantor's flurry of papers on Set Theory between 1879-1883. With this in mind my central questions are:
1) What ...
- 14.3k
1
vote
1
answer
83
views
How can I be sure that a certain term ocurred first in a certain textbook?
The German Wikipedia article "Bernoulli-Verteilung" ("Bernoulli distribution") claims that the term "Bernoullian trials" occurs first in the textbook "Introduction to Mathematical Probability" by J.V. ...
- 10.2k
6
votes
0
answers
297
views
Is $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ the Christoffel symbol or the Christoffel symbols?
For years, I have been perplexed that the expression $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ is often referred to in the plural as "the Christoffel symbols", although sometimes it is referred to in the singular as "the ...
1
vote
1
answer
77
views
What was the system for naming scientific ideas / inventions?
I'm interested in tracing the history of the word "Optical Illusion." See these two questions History of optics
and https://english.stackexchange.com/q/260495/129806
It seems Greek and Latin words ...
CommunityBot
- 1
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What word meaning "random" was used before the word "random" got popularized?
In the What is Random? vlog of the Vsauce channel, Michael says (start from 3:25):
In the 1300s, random meant running or at great speed. Later, it would be used to describe things that have no ...
- 7,654
7
votes
1
answer
231
views
What are the most famous examples of theory rebranding?
This question was sparked by the observation that the rebranding of the field called "neural networks" into "deep learning" is quite impressive. I wonder whether there have been similar renamings in ...
- 2,972
9
votes
1
answer
513
views
When was the term "field" first used in maths?
My understanding is that the term "field" in science was first used in physics, while the mathematical term, at least the algebraic one, was more recent.
Does anybody know when the first occurrence ...
CommunityBot
- 1
3
votes
1
answer
241
views
Do the words 'graphing' a function and 'graph' theory have a common ancestor?
When saying graph in mathematics, it can be either a graph of a function, or a graph in graph theory. However mathematically they have nothing in common. How did they get the same name?
I know graph ...
- 47.6k
2
votes
1
answer
278
views
From the perspective of etymology, why was the word "magma" chosen to describe a set with a single binary operation defined on it?
According to Wikipedia, the choice of vocabulary was made partially to avoid overloading the term "groupoid".
However, that still does not explain etymologically speaking, "magma" was chosen instead ...
- 14.3k
12
votes
2
answers
835
views
Is it true that Leibniz introduced "constant," "variable," and "function"?
I read in a not always reliable source (David Foster Wallace's Everything and More, p.104), that Leibniz introduced the terms constant, variable, and function, the latter as an alternative to Newton's ...
- 7,654
28
votes
1
answer
584
views
Contributions to chemistry from medieval Arabia
A lot of chemical terms such as alcohol, aldehyde, sugar/azucar, amalgam etc. are of Arabic origin.
Did Arabic chemistry in medieval times achieve any scientific insights still valid today (such as '...
- 1,886
5
votes
1
answer
489
views
Origin of "dust" in cosmology?
In cosmology, "dust" refers to a pressureless perfect fluid, which essentially means a continuum of nonrelativistic material particles, such as galaxies. This is a picturesque and unusual piece of ...
- 73.6k
5
votes
0
answers
136
views
Origin of the Hankel contour?
Who was the first to publish a Hankel contour integral?
See notes in my answer to the MO-Q How does one motivate the analytic continuation of the Riemann zeta function?.
CommunityBot
- 1
14
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How did we come up with the name "atomic bomb"?
At first, my initiate question was: What is the difference between an atomic and a nuclear bomb?:
Nuclear bombs are of two types — those that depend on fission, like atomic bombs, and those that ...
Danu♦
- 3,812
7
votes
1
answer
286
views
What is the origin of the term recombination?
During the introductory lecture to a cosmology course I'm currently taking, there was a brief discussion of some of the "highlights" of the Big Bang model. One of these is, of course, recombination. ...
- 73.6k
7
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How did the term "Michel electron" come about?
The Michel electron is what we call the electron produced from muon decay, and it's named after Louis Michel. I mention this in a paper I'm writing, and I was told that I need to cite it. I can't find ...
Danu♦
- 3,812
3
votes
0
answers
275
views
History of the Wreath product
Why is the wreath product so named?
If possible, please provide a citation.
Danu♦
- 3,812
8
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Who invented the mole?
Who invented, or first used, the concept of the mole? I did my own research and the closest I came was Avogadro’s constant, which was made not by Avogadro but rather by Jean Baptiste Perrin. However, ...
Danu♦
- 3,812
21
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Why did angular momentum get the letter L
Note - this question was inspired by this questions on physics.SE.
Many (most) physical quantities are denoted with a single letter - latin or greek. For many, the letter chosen makes sense: $t$ for ...
CommunityBot
- 1
11
votes
2
answers
568
views
What's the etymology of an engineering/software bug?
I read the Wikipedia page on Software bugs. It does have a section on its etymology. Albeit interesting it doesn't answer my question but merely notes that the term bug was used in 1878:
Use of the ...
- 121
3
votes
1
answer
252
views
Origin of "world-line?"
The term "world-line" is a little odd in English. Google n-grams shows the English term going back to 1915 in the books google has scanned. Is its origin in Minkowski, Raum und Zeit (1909), ...
- 3,415
9
votes
1
answer
2k
views
When and by whom was the term 'momentum' introduced?
We know that up to 1726, when the third edition of the Principia was published, the name for $m\vec v$ was: quantitas motus.
Do you know who substituted that with another Latin word: 'momentum'?
- 14.3k
7
votes
1
answer
379
views
When was the term 'elementary function' first coined and who did it?
The definition of what an elementary function is is quite arbitrary (see what math.SE has to say about it) and it makes me wonder why hasn't the mathematical community added other rather natural ...
CommunityBot
- 1
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How did the 'Poincaré patches' get their name?
De Sitter space and Anti de Sitter space are two of the most important solutions to the Einstein field equations. One famous method to obtain these spacetimes is to consider a $N$-dimensional ...
- 2,802
6
votes
3
answers
425
views
Is "de" in "de Morgan" supposed to be capitalized or not?
I am currently writing about the "de Morgan's laws" and have seen both "de Morgan" and "De Morgan."
Which of these is correct?
CommunityBot
- 1