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1500 questions
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Who first proved that only primes of the form $4k+1$ divide odd integers of the form $n^2+1$?
I am writing a paper and I would like to cite the person(s) who proved that only primes of the form $4k+1$ can evenly divide odd integers of the form $n^2+1$?
For example, if $n=8$, $n^2 + 1 = 65$ which is evenly divisible by 5 and 13, both of which…
kenneth watanabe
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When and how did usage of the term Centigrade give way to Celsius? Are/were they in fact numerically identical?
Discussion below the question Does the US National Weather Service use Celsius or Fahrenheit? and correction of my original use of "Centigrade" to the modern Celsius lead me here.
For example, in the merriam-webster.com's entry for centigrade it…
uhoh
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What was the motivation for Cauchy's Integral Theorem?
How did Cauchy go about Cauchy's integral theorem? What was his motivation?
LinearGuy
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7
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When was the term "corollary" first used in proofs?
A dictionary search of the word "corollary" immediately yields the usual definition that all people involved with mathematics are used to dealing with.
However, this surely comes from the Latin "corollarium", which has arguably a completely…
Easymode44
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The exhausting Greek fear of infinity
Every serious source I consulted, be it Cajori, Struik, Edwards,... discusses the method of exhaustion as the means used by ancient Greeks to avoid “taking limits”, because they “disliked infinity”.
As far as my sources go, exhaustion is defined as…
Rodrigo A. Pérez
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7
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In which 1644 publication did Pietro Mengoli first pose the Basel Problem?
I find numerous claims that the Basel Problem was first posed by Pietro Mengoli in 1644. However, I am unable to find even the name of the publication (or book or letter) in which this was supposedly done.
I am hoping someone will help me.
(My…
dtcm840
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7
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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 functions to the list, for example the error function,…
hjhjhj57
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Was the United Kingdom the only faction in the Second World War that used Operations Research?
I'm aware of work done by the Army Operational Research Group from the United Kingdom's Ministry of Supply. I know Stigler's Diet Problem came out in 1939, if I'm recalling that correctly. However, I wasn't able to find out if it had been in use…
user441767
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Historically how it was discovered that we need fields to describe matter?
This question is from one historical perspective. The question is: how physicists historically found out that one needs quantum fields to describe matter?
Being more detailed. Let us consider the electromagnetic field for a while. Classically this…
user1620696
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7
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Why didn't Mendel's experiments draw attention until the 20th century?
In The Gene: An Intimate History, author concludes the Mendel's pea experiments publication by these words:
Mendel himself requested forty reprints, which he mailed, heavily annotated, to many scientists. It is likely that he sent one to Darwin,…
Failed Scientist
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Where does the letter S in "$S$-units" and in localization $S^{-1} R$ come from?
In number theory, we may encounter the notion of $S$-unit, $S$-integer, etc. where $S$ is a finite set of prime numbers (for simplicity). For instance, if $S = \{2,3\}$ then the $S$-integers are the elements of $\Bbb Z[1/6]$. I was wondering if…
Watson
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Did Aristotle note that ships disappear over the horizon hull-first?
I have run across several references to Aristotle's arguments for a spherical earth which claim that he noted that ships sink over horizon hull-first. For instance, Isaac Asimov writes in his essay The Relativity of Wrong:
There were reasons, to be…
Endy
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Who was this man (who is not Bruno Pontecorvo)?
The English-language Wikipedia article about physicist Bruno Pontecorvo is illustrated with this photo:
Now, this man seems distinctly different from most portraits of Pontecorvo around:
The first two come, respectively, from Italian-language…
DaG
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7
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Who extended the Euclidean algorithm to derive the Bezout identity?
Euclidean algorithm is an algorithm that produces the greatest common divisor of two integers. It was described by Euclid as early as in 300 BC.
On the other hand, the extended Euclidean algorithm extends his algorithm to express the greatest common…
Leaky Nun
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7
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Textbook on the History of General Relativity
I have studied General Relativity from various textbooks already, and the subject fascinated me immensely. I was wandering if there is any textbook that deals with the chronological "steps" that Einstein took (from 1906 to 1916) to complete his…
grimx
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