New answers tagged physics
2
Curious award, issued by Northrop Grumman Corp., the common abbreviation seems to be "Grumman medal". Appears to be out of circulation since 1990s. Aside from Wilson (1986) and Ufimtsev (1991), some recipients were Paul Chu (1987), Russell Messier (1987), Burt Rutan (1989), John Huizenga (see p.50) (1991), and Edward Stone (see p.37) (?).
Unfortunately, ...
7
It came to physics a bit earlier than quantum mechanics. The homomorphism
$SU(2)\to SO(3)$ was discovered by Cayley (1843), Hamilton (1847), and Klein (1875) in their pure mathematical studies,
and came to the attention of physicists through the theory of rigid body rotation (classical mechanics). It was Klein who brought it to the attention
of physicists.
...
4
I will assume "non-instantaneous" means something other than electric discharge in the atmosphere, from animals like eels and torpedo fishes, or electrostatic generators like the Leyden jar or the van der Graaf generator. Then the answer is the voltaic pile invented by Volta in 1799, "the first electrical battery that could continuously provide an electric ...
19
It is not random. These names are of Greek origin, and -ic or -ics are Anglicizations of the Greek suffix -ikos, which meant "pertaining to". In other languages it can be rendered as -ika or -ica, Wolfram's "Mathematica" uses such a version. From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
"-ics in the names of sciences or disciplines (acoustics, aerobics, ...
5
Trigonometric functions became "mainstream" since the publication by Ptolemy (II AD) of trigonometric tables. To be sure he did not use our modern sine and cosine,
but a single trigonometric function, the chord ($=2\sin(t/2)$).
Modern definitions of sine and cosine were introduced by Indian mathematicians (Surya Siddhanta (V century AD), and reached Europe ...
4
The fourth quote is found in the posthumous work "Anecdotes, Observations and Characters, of Books and Men" Vol 1 (page 158), by the historian Joseph Spence (1820). They are reported to have been uttered by Newton just before his death (1727) to Chevalier Andrew Michael Ramsey (though the latter was recorded to be in France at the time).
The second probably ...
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