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When were the concepts of pure and applied Mathematics introduced?
I know that there are no standard definitions for pure and applied mathematics however I would like to know who first considered them as two separate entities, I have seen people mention it was around the late 18th early 19th century but I can't…
Bradley Hill
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What is the correct statement of Cauchy’s erroneous theorem on continuity?
I read recently that Cours includes a famous, or perhaps infamous, error in that Cauchy states and proves a false result concerning sequences of continuous functions. (Here, obviously, continuous function means continuous according to Cauchy’s…
nwr
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How many papers on general relativity did Marcel Grossmann author or co-author?
Marcel Grossmann is perhaps best known for helping Einstein learn the Riemannian geometry necessary to formulate general relativity. He was instrumental in its early development. Wikipedia states:
The collaboration of Einstein and Grossmann led to…
HDE 226868
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A question on Gauss' "Vicimus GEGAN"
The 43rd entry(Oct. 1796) of Gauss' mathematical diary "Vicimus GEGAN" remained a mystery for a long time. K. R. Biermann found evidence that GEGAN is related the famous arithmetic-geometric mean(AGM) of Gauss. He also referred this entry to the…
zy_
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Who really discovered/invented the Hooke's law?
According to Wikipedia,
The law is named after 17th-century British physicist Robert Hooke. He first stated the law in 1676 as a Latin anagram. He published the solution of his anagram in 1678 as: ut tensio, sic vis("as the extension, so the force"…
Diego S. Rodrigues
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Are there any records that show how Hilbert came to "invent" or "discover" Hilbert spaces?
I think it's fuzzy as to whether or not this question is appropriate to ask on this site.
The reason I ask it that the characteristics of Hilbert spaces are very much used in expressing quantum mechanics.
I am wondering if Hilbert had this in mind…
Sedumjoy
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Before the discovery of the neutron, how did scientists explain standard atomic weights?
The neutron was predicted in 1920 and discovered 12 years later. Before this time, how did scientists explain standard atomic weights?
For example, Lithium has a standard atomic weight of about 6.9 because the natural abundance of the isotopes is…
DrZ214
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To what extent were the scientists involved in the Manhattan project aware of the goals?
I want to understand the extent to which scientists and technicians employed in the Manhattan project understood that they were building a bomb that would kill hundreds of thousands of people.
Wikipedia has this to say:
"An example of…
Elle Najt
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Examples of when the development of math notation accelerated progress in math research?
Sometimes, coming up with good mathematical notation is key to understanding parts of mathematics. For example, consider the quadratic formula.
Brahmagupta formulated a version of the quadratic formula in 628 A.D., which goes as follows:
To the…
aras
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Is "de" in "de Morgan" supposed to be capitalized or not?
I am currently writing about the "de Morgan's laws" and have seen both "de Morgan" and "De Morgan."
Which of these is correct?
Clarinetist
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What did Lobachevsky do?
It is often said that he discovered non-Euclidean geometry. But in which sense?
I am reading the book 'geometry' by Brannan et al. They use the disk model as an example of hyperbolic geometry. Did Lobachevsky have a similar model?
wdlang
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A 'third way' to consistency (besides Dedekind's and Gentzen's)? Hilbert's 'unverstanden' 1904 Heidelberg ICM proposal for consistency proofs
Question.
(bibliographic) Are there recommendable, preferably modern, detailed and technical discussions in the literature on the kind of consistency proofs that Otto Blumenthal mentions Hilbert proposed in 1904 in an address to the third ICM in…
Peter Heinig
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Kepler's position with respect to Tycho Brahe's world system?
When Kepler was an assistant of Tycho Brahe, did Kepler in public declare his support for Copernicus' system or Brahe's system (the earth at rest, but the planets orbiting the sun) or was he undecided? The latter is told in the novel by Max Brod:…
user6027
6
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3 answers
Great physicists with no mentors
I often check biographies of physicists and at one point or another in the beginning of their careers they have the opportunity to be mentored by other and often also great scientists. But, I know for sure there are scientists who never needed…
user3653831
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Where does the habit of calling the elements of a projective Hilbert space "rays" originate from?
When describing the projective Hilbert space as the state space in quantum mechanics, physicists habitually refer to its elements as "rays in Hilbert space", while the mathematical literature seems to favour calling the elements of projective spaces…
ACuriousMind
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