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1500 questions
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Was the concept of zero ever developed without relation to positional number systems?
Are there any ancient civilizations which had concept of zero but didn't not use positional numerals for any somewhat non-negligible (from historical point of view) amount of time?
If there are such civilizations, why didn't they adopt/come up…
Vlad
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Who discovered the topological proof of Nielsen-Schreier theorem?
The celebrated Nielsen-Schreier theorem in group theory says subgroup of a free group is free. This was proved for finitely generated subgroups of free groups by Jakob Nielsen in 1921, which involved the machinery of Nielsen transformations. It was…
Balarka Sen
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6
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Nowadays I see a distinct "line" dividing people working in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences. Why?
The direction in which leading research is heading in these subjects (Math, Physics) is very much different and don't seem to be in tandem. Is this something that developed in more recent times? This is strictly my belief. This query is not meant to…
Wave Metric
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6
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Where does the formula $(1+\frac r n)^n$ for compound interest come from?
If we have an annual interest rate of $r$, meaning that each year we multiply our capital by $1+r$, but we want to compound it $n$ times throughout the year, then the usual formula for the amount of money at the end of the year is:
$$\left(1+\frac r…
Jack M
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What did Dedekind's The Nature and Meaning of Numbers contribute to the founding of Set Theory?
As best as I can tell Dedekind's paper was published in 1887 already several years after Cantor's flurry of papers on Set Theory between 1879-1883. With this in mind my central questions are:
1) What did Dedekind contribute that was not already…
L.P.
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6
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Did Einstein propose a perpetual motion machine to try to disprove quantum mechanics?
In response to quantum mechanics, so the story goes, Einstein proposed a machine, that, based on the uncertainty principle, was a perpetual motion. This showed that quantum mechanics was at odds with evidence that energy is conserved. Bohr later…
Christopher King
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When was "operator precedence" invented? Did any culture use a different rule?
Every kid knows $1+2\times3$ is equal to $1+(2\times3)$, not $(1+2)\times3$. But the more I think about it, the more counterintuitive it seems. You have to tell kids to memorize the rule, instead of just following the literal order.
So I think the…
Lai Yu-Hsuan
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6
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Is $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ the Christoffel symbol or the Christoffel symbols?
For years, I have been perplexed that the expression $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ is often referred to in the plural as "the Christoffel symbols", although sometimes it is referred to in the singular as "the Christoffel symbol". I have found this even in the…
Alan U. Kennington
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Who discovered Napoleon's theorem?
I read about Napoleon's Theorem in geometry. Was this the same Napoleon as the great warrior? Was he a mathematician too?
Soham
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6
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Why were British WWII computing machines and their projects destroyed after the war ended?
I've seen from a number of sources that both the Colossus and the cryptological bombes operating for England were dismantled after the war ended. The Wikipedia article even says that all of Colossus' documentation was burnt.
I would guess that at…
Tarc
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6
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Source for Weierstrass's quote "Any function addition law is due to an elliptic curve lurking in the background."
"Any function addition law is due to an elliptic curve lurking in the background."
When I was reading about the origin of the concept of a genus, I came across a quote along these lines, I believe the quote was attributed to Weierstrass. I have been…
Catherine Ray
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David Hilbert and the limits of science
David Hilbert wrote a couple of anecdotal paragraphs regarding "the limits of science." He recalled that in the early 19th Century the position of a philosopher - or philosophy in general - was that empirical science would never be able to know what…
Bubastis
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6
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History of Algebraic Geometry for a general readership?
I'm looking for a "pop maths" book on the subject. Something much more accessible than Dieudonné: "light reading" with emphasis on the history, personalities and general ideas and minimal technicalities. It needn't be comprehensive, or even get as…
helveticat
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6
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Significance of partial melting as a form of melt production
How and when was the significance of partial melting understood to be a significant form of melt production and could explain the variability in melt (and hence igneous rock) composition?
winwaed
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6
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What are the uses and the origin of the constant $e$?
It was to my understanding that the constant $e$ came about as a result of simplifying the differentiation of an exponential.
For example, the derivative of $2^x$ is $2^x \cdot \ln 2$; for $3^x$ it's $3^x \cdot \ln 3$ etc. and essentially a number…
Malcolm
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