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1500 questions
92
votes
14 answers
What famous theorems or results were proven by female mathematicians?
We know that there were/are many famous female mathematicians who influenced the mathematics as we know it today, but their numbers are few compared to male mathematicians. While we have numerous famous results by many male mathematicians like…
Kushal Bhuyan
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84
votes
18 answers
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?
Seth Rich
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75
votes
3 answers
What evidence is there that Fermat had a proof for his Last Theorem?
Aside from the fact that Fermat was a genius, is it probable that he actually did have a proof?
Some specifics that I think would point one way or another:
Would the mathematics of his day allow him to prove it similarly to
how Andrew Wiles…
Carlos Bribiescas
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74
votes
5 answers
Why was Évariste Galois killed?
It is well known that Évariste Galois died a young man. I have heard that he died in a duel. What was the duel about? More rather what is the back story behind his death and did he really write down most of his great ideas days before his death?
Ali Caglayan
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67
votes
1 answer
What's the famous story about a mathematician who gave a talk without saying a word?
Years ago, I read a story about a mathematician who found a numerical counterexample to some conjecture long believed to be true. He gave a talk during which he didn't utter a single word but simply wrote out the arithmetic computation on the board…
user4894
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59
votes
3 answers
What is Ptolemy holding in this picture?
I would like to know the name of the device Ptolemy is holding in the following picture.
[Image Source]
hb20007
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58
votes
3 answers
Why are $X$ and $Y$ commonly used as mathematical placeholders?
I realize that $X$ and $Y$ are relatively popular terms when wanting to use a placeholder for an unknown English or math term. What is the origin of this term, and why was it $X$ and $Y$; why not the other letters?
Sweet_Cherry
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56
votes
2 answers
Timeline of measurements of the electron's charge
Where can I find a paper or reference that describes the timeline of measurements of the magnitude of the electron's electric charge.
For context, Millikan's oil drop experiment in 1908 determined the charge of the electron to be 1.59*10^(-19) C,…
BMS
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53
votes
3 answers
Which came first, the natural logarithm or the base of the natural logarithm?
The natural logarithm function ($\ln x$) and the base of the natural logarithm function ($e$) are both extremely useful. They're also both closely related: $\ln (e^x)=x$, and $e^{\ln x}=x$. But which came first? I would think it's likely they were…
HDE 226868
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49
votes
2 answers
Did Gauss find the formula for $1+2+3+\ldots+(n-2)+(n-1)+n$ in elementary school?
I heard Gauss's primary school teacher gave some busy-work to his class: to add all the numbers between 1 and 100 up. Gauss immediately wrote 5050. His teacher was shocked, so she told him to add up all the numbers to 1000. And just as quickly he…
Geremia
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49
votes
5 answers
Was Occam’s razor ever wrong?
In brief, I am looking for an example where Occam’s razor favoured a theory A over another theory B, but theory B turned out to be a better description of reality later. But let me formulate some criteria of what I mean by that:
First of all, as…
Wrzlprmft
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48
votes
3 answers
What led to the fall of Göttingen?
Göttingen was the place in which many important mathematicians such as Riemann worked. It was also one of the main locations for the development of quantum theory in the twenties (e.g. Heisenberg, Born worked there) What led to its decline, was it…
tox123
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47
votes
45 answers
Which mathematicians died very young or in a tragic way?
When I first thought of this question, I wanted to ask: If you could give one mathematician his remaining life until an average age for the time he lived in, who would you choose? However, this question is a bit too subjective for SE. So I decided…
wythagoras
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47
votes
6 answers
How did German become the language of science?
Recently, I read an interesting article about how English replaced German as the language in which scientists communicate. But how did German become the leading language in the first place? In the early years of what we could call modern science,…
Ondřej Černotík
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45
votes
3 answers
When exactly (and why) did matrices become a part of the undergraduate curriculum?
Let me tell what I know about this. It is well-known that Heisenberg invented matrix multiplication himself, in his great paper that is considered part of the foundation of quantum mechanics. This was in 1925, and the story is very well documented.…
Alexandre Eremenko
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