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1500 questions
11
votes
1 answer
Does anyone know about Ramanujan's method of solving the quartic?
I have read (probably) in Kanigel's book The Man Who Knew Infinity that S. Ramanujan devised his own method of solving the Quartic Equation after he learnt to solve the Cubic Equation. Does anyone know what exactly was Ramanujan's method of solving…
user459
11
votes
1 answer
How did Newton explain his interference rings without wave optics?
Nowadays we know it is a consequence of the wave property of light. But ironically it was discovered by Newton who held the particle point-of-view of light. So how did he explain his discovery?
J.Bates
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11
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3 answers
When was the function arrow notation $x \mapsto y$ first used?
The notation $x\mapsto \sin x
$
and its meaning are well-known to most mathematicians. Less well-known seems to be the fact that $x \mapsto y$ means the same as Church's $\lambda x.y$ and Frege's $\grave x y$ (found in Funktion und Begriff, 1891).…
Michael Bächtold
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11
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3 answers
When was it first discovered (or comprehended) that air has weight?
When was it first discovered (or comprehended) that air has weight?
Did the ancients know of this, or did they think that air is weightless?
Ynk
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11
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A knot cannot be tied in 4-dimensions, but when was this conjectured and proven?
Today it has been shown that a 1-dimensional object in 4-dimensional space cannot be tied into a knot.
But I would like to know who first conjectured this and when? And when was it proven?
(P.S., is there a hyper-dimension tag by some other…
DrZ214
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11
votes
1 answer
How did 19th century scientists estimate the age of the Earth
Let me briefly recall the "Age of the Earth controversy". Based on the hypothesis that Earth was originally hot and cools down ever since, and using the data on the gradient of temperature currently observed near the surface (about 1 degree per 100…
Alexandre Eremenko
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11
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3 answers
Is scientific consensus ever significantly wrong?
In debates with climate change deniers and creationists, it is often claimed that consensus of scientists is not enough to establish a position beyond dispute. Examples of the problem with consensus are geocentrism, species saltation, ambiogenesis,…
yters
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11
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1 answer
How were Millennium Problems chosen? (according to what criteria)
I am making a presentation about Millennium Problems. There are 7 Millennium Problems but a lot of unsolved mathematics problems are also waiting to be solved. I know that these problems are much more important than many others but I need a more…
user4962
11
votes
1 answer
When did people notice the special shapes of snowflakes, and when did they start to study them?
What was the first written account about snowflake shapes and when did physicists start to study the reasons why the form appears and how snowflakes form in the air?
Is there any old book that mentions these aspects?
yoyo_fun
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11
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2 answers
Where was the word "pencil" first used in (projective) geometry and what is the reason behind this curious name?
The title is pretty self-explanatory: A pencil in projective (or algebraic) geometry is the family of all lines through a point. The above-linked website tells me that Cremona, on page x of Elements of Projective Geometry, asserts that Desargues was…
Danu
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11
votes
1 answer
Who invented or discovered the hyperbolic numbers?
Hyperbolic numbers have the form $a+bj$ where $a,b \in \mathbb{R}$ and $j^2=1$. These are also known as a the Lorentz numbers or double numbers by some authors. I suppose these are a particular type of the Tessarines introduced by James Cockle in…
James S. Cook
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11
votes
3 answers
Why does the statute mile have the length that it has?
Why was our (statute) mile established as it was?
This happened in 1593, by the order of Elizabeth I which said:
"A Mile ſhall contain eight Furlongs, every Furlong forty Poles, and every Pole ſhall contain ſixteen Foot and an half." It was thus…
Alexandre Eremenko
- 48,930
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11
votes
1 answer
What were the earliest “unpleasant” consequences of the Axiom of Choice (and its negation) to be deduced?
I read that Zermelo formulated AC in 1904 in order to formally prove the well-ordering theorem.
Vitali’s 1905 proof of the existence of a non-measurable set of real numbers appears to the first “unpleasant” consequence of AC that is commonly cited. …
nwr
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11
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1 answer
What were Hilbert's weekly 1933 lectures on "matters of general intellectual interest" about?
Saunders Mac Lane says he attended Hilbert's weekly lectures on "matters of general intellectual interest" around 1931 or 1933 (Saunders Mac Lane: A Mathematical Autobiography p. 44). I believe these are the same as Mac Lane elsewhere called…
Colin McLarty
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11
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What is known about Grothendieck's capacity of work?
A lot has been said about Grothendieck's capacity of work, but what we know?
(with references if possible) how was the work-day of Grothendieck, how many hours to day, what about his sleep?
What is know about Grothendieck's habits of work (in…
tttbase
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