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1500 questions
7
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What manuscript is depicted in the HSM advertisement?
The following advertisement recently appeared in the sidebar on math.se:
Is the Greek script on the left actually from a mathematical manuscript? What is its source?
Mark Dominus
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Translations of Luca Pacioli's Summa de arithmetica
Are there any English language (or perhaps German, Dutch or French, but preferably English) translations of Luca Pacioli's 1494 (or later edition) "Summa de arithmetica"? They do not have to be in print or of recent times, but just anyone in…
Jori
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Who developed Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and applied it to machine learning?
I searched about GMM (Gaussian mixture model), but only found that normal distribution was invented by Carl Friedrich Gauss. I'd like to know who contributed to the development of GMM itself, and to using it for machine learning.
M. Al.
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What was the first journal to have Feynman Diagrams?
I'm writing a paper on the history of Feynman diagrams and am having trouble finding the first paper published by Feynman which features a calculation done with Feynman Diagrams.
TheStrangeQuark
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Whence originates the use of the nabla (∇) for a connection or covariant derivative?
Who introduced it, when, where, and with what if any rationale?
(Note that I am not asking about the origin of the nabla symbol, which is covered here.)
Archelon
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7
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How did Planck calculate the Planck constant?
Having started to learn about quantum behavior, this formula came up:
$$E = hf $$
Where $E$ is energy, $h$ is the Planck constant and $f$ is the frequency.
My physics teacher suggested an experiment involving LEDs as a way of calculating…
Darth Vader
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7
votes
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How were atomic weights originally measured?
According to the Science Encyclopedia,
Because atoms were much too small to be seen or measured by any common methods, absolute weights of atoms could not be determined. Rather, these first measurements were made by comparing weights of various…
Doubt
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How did artillery and physics co-evolve during 1400-1700?
Artillery was established in Europe around the year 1400. But physics, the mathematical and systematical description of how objects fall, the foundation of engine construction, didn't dawn until about 1600 with Johannes Kepler's explanation of…
LocalFluff
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7
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When the Superconducting Super Collider was built, was the future of the site planned for?
The Superconducting Super Collider was the greatest experiment that was never built. It was cancelled in 1993 after years of planning and effort, during which there was some construction of facilities. The site may be used in the future, but I…
HDE 226868
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Why does Aristotle write 'astrology' when Plato writes 'astronomy'?
Checking modern quotes from Aristotle almost everywhere the word astronomy is found to be replacing the original Greek or Latin astrology' (astrologia). In Plato's original texts only astronomy (astronomia) is found.
One hypothesis is that…
sand1
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Did Newton and Leibniz lack rigour?
I've read that the original approach to demonstrating the efficacy of calculus left something to be desired among mathematicians. What exactly was the problem? Does the later accepted definition illuminate anything about the original problem or…
Dodd
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7
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Visualizing algebra before Descartes
The Cartesian coordinate system is what I have been told provided the first link between algebra and geometry. However, I also have learned that, for instance, Omar Khayyam solved cubic equations as the intersection between parabolas.
So, how was…
Avatrin
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7
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2 answers
Who discovered integer triangles with one angle trisecting another?
When & who was the first mathematician to discover the following simple triangle with a unique property that it has one angle is equal to one third of another angle in the same triangle?
The triangle sides are the following: $$a^3, a(b^2 – a^2),…
Bassam Karzeddin
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7
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1 answer
What vaccines did infants receive in late nineteenth century England?
I came across a WWI service record for a relative which includes his medical history. It notes that he was vaccinated in infancy:
The person in question was born in 1897. I note on this simple timeline of vaccines that there were several vaccines…
Harry Vervet
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7
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How did Maxwell conclude that light is an electromagnetic wave?
This is a copy of a question I just asked at Physics Stack Exchange. From reading the text on the related questions, it seems that Maxwell equated light with the carrier of electromagnetic force just by the fact the two had the same propagation…
CTMacUser
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