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What was Gauss's theoretical work related to his invention of the "Double-Gauss lens"?
Gauss's contributions (Dioptriche Untersuchungen, 1840) to the "classical" optical theory (Gaussian optics, i.e calculations made under the paraxial approximation) are well known, but long before he published his known treatise he published a small…
user2554
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Why was Beaumont's steam engine not replicated for about 100 years?
Via a recent answer of mine, an ultimately wikipedia, I've learned that the first Steam Engine used to drain a mine was invented by Jeronimo Beamont, in 1606. He got a patent for it too. This was in Spain. Another source from wikipedia, with a…
DrZ214
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Is there an anthology of classic papers on electricity?
I'm trying to find a book similiar to Stephen Brush "Kinetic Theory of Gases: An Anthology of Classic Papers With Historical Commentary".
The electricity version, let's say!
I like to see how subjects and theories developed and nothing is more…
Gabriele Scarlatti
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What is Newman's "infinite number of curves"?
In John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University (c. 1850), he writes that, in mathematical science, we are told of
...the existence of an infinite number of curves, which are able to
divide a space, into which no straight line, though it be…
Doubt
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What was Pauling's claim about vitamin C?
As I understand it after winning two (un-shared) Nobel prizes Linus Pauling began work which eventually had him recommending large amounts of vitamin C to all and sundry.
When another scientist was unable to repeat the results a scandal began. Linus…
Elliot
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When did people first become concerned about mercury in fish?
I can't find any information about the history of mercury in fish as a public health concern. When was it first recognized that fish contain higher levels of mercury than land animals? How long have we had the technology to measure the amount of…
Metamorphic
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How was the idea of observation error introduced?
The first thing a contemporary student of physics learns is the measurement error. As far as I understand, the idea of imprecision was totally foreign to natural philosophers at least until the end of 18th century. In 20th century the notion of…
user58697
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Was Captain Cook’s voyage to observe the transit of Venus going to enable better ship navigation at the time?
On a recent visit to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich I was struck by its proximity to the Naval Academy next door. The theme of the history of clocks and development of astronomy was driven by the need to stop ships crashing due to navigation…
hawkeye
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Who first derived $a =v^2/r$
This is a basic formula in mechanics, which determines the acceleration of a particle performing uniform circular motion.
By who first derived it? In Newton's Principa, what one can find is that
$$a \propto v^2/r $$
poisson
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How did Lagrange get his equation (the so-called Euler-Lagrange equation)
The variational principle is named after Hamilton, instead of Lagrange.
So it seems that he did not derive his equation by the variational method.
poisson
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Pauli's first paper about the spin
Wikipedia states, that the spin degree of freedom was first formulated by Pauli in 1924:
In 1924 Wolfgang Pauli introduced what he called a "two-valued quantum degree of freedom" associated with the electron in the outermost shell.
However, there…
thyme
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Who coined the term "degenerate star"?
I'm trying to find a good source for the definition of degenerate matter to differentiate it from Fermi gases. For my research a good section on history would be nice. This question is more specifically about stars composed of degenerate matter.
Mauricio
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Compass and straightedge: why?
Why is it that, in ancient Greece, mathematicians tried to solve geometrical problems using compass and straightedge only and, apparently, only if that failed, they tried to use other tools? Note that this question is not about what they were (and…
José Carlos Santos
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What triggered the general relativity renaissance?
There is a period of general relativity history famous for its lack of activity, where during the 1950's, almost no general relativity was done. Looking through various bibliographies, there were very little papers written on the specific topic of…
Slereah
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First appearance of the product symbol ($\Pi$)
As far as I can tell, the first occurrence of the sum notation ($\Sigma$) was in Euler's book Institutiones calculi differentialis:
Quemadmodum ad differentiam denotandam usi sumus signo $\Delta$, ita summam indicabimus signo $\Sigma$...
(Just as…
user7118
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