Most Popular
1500 questions
5
votes
1 answer
Who coined kernel in mathematics?
I'm convinced that there is no such a mathematician whose name is "kernel". The wiki article about kernel doesn't include history in its content.
So I wonder, who is the first mathematician to use kernel in his work and on which paper.
albo
- 965
- 1
- 6
- 11
5
votes
3 answers
Why choose symbol $\sum$ to be the summation operator in maths?
AFAIK there's rare evidence to show that $\sum$ has the meaning of "sum" in Greek, so why mathematician chose $\sum$ to be the summation operator?
ryanpika
- 51
- 1
5
votes
2 answers
An English copy of One Hundred Authors Against Einstein?
I've been trying to find the famous article, "One hundred authors against Einstein" (100 Autoren gegen Einstein), of various objections to special relativity, which is quite often referenced, but finding a copy proved to be quite hard (there is one…
Slereah
- 865
- 5
- 13
5
votes
2 answers
What made Einstein believe (or know) that time was affected by speed and gravity?
How did he come up with this idea before there was any experimental data to prove this?
Curious Layman
- 189
- 4
5
votes
3 answers
After Archimedes's *Sand Reckoner*, who considered very large numbers?
Archimedes's work The Sand Reckoner (also known by its original Greek title Ψαμμίτης or by the Latin translation thereof, Arenarius) sets out to prove that the number of grains of sand in the Universe is finite by providing an upper bound. From my…
Gro-Tsen
- 399
- 1
- 12
5
votes
3 answers
Who do I blame for non-Euclidean geometry?
When, and where, was the earliest record of non-Euclidean geometry? It was always my impression that Riemann created them, but did it really take that much time for someone to try to create an alternate system of mathematics?
tox123
- 1,094
- 8
- 25
5
votes
3 answers
Who discovered total internal reflection?
There is no information on wiki. Is it known to Newton?
It seems that this has not been mentioned in most textbooks.
John
- 909
- 7
- 11
5
votes
1 answer
Who convinced Churchill to fund Needham's trip to China in 1942?
In 1942 the famous British biochemist Joseph Needham was sent to China to help their scientists because the Japanese had been targetting Chinese universities, academies and technical institutions since about 1938.
Given that England was in…
Lysistrata
- 203
- 1
- 6
5
votes
1 answer
What were the problems that necessitated the introduction of the sine and cosine functions, and how long ago were they introduced?
I know that sine and cosine functions are used ubiquitously today, but I got to wondering about what sort of unsolved or difficult to solve problems required inventing the trigonometric functions.
For instance, the complex number $i$ was invented…
D. W.
- 153
- 4
5
votes
1 answer
Who was first to observe or detect photons in the double slit experiment, and how did they do that?
In the early 1800s Thomas Young introduced (a thought-?) experiment also known as the two slit experiment. He discovered the strange way photons created a interference pattern on a screen.
There is also an extra experiment done by detecting through…
Marijn
- 383
- 1
- 2
- 4
5
votes
1 answer
What is the origin of the use of "g" for a Riemannian metric?
I am asking about the reason for the use of this letter, if known, as well as the initial occasion of its use. Ideas that have been suggested concerning the former include:
That it stands for geometry or Geometrie
That it stands for some other…
Archelon
- 163
- 5
5
votes
3 answers
Example of abstract math theory that was later found to be applicable to physical world?
In this video about the Banach-Tarski paradox the host stipulates that history is full of examples of abstract mathematical theories that were later found to be applicable to the physical world. Is he right?
(I realise this question may not specific…
daniel.sedlacek
- 151
- 3
5
votes
1 answer
How did chemists figure out atomic weights, when hydrogen, etc., were first discovered?
Henry Cavendish isolated hydrogen in 1766, but I want to know if he knew the gas was actually $H_2$ instead of just a plain $H$ gas.
This would make a major difference in the atomic weights, which would have implications for the periodic table once…
DrZ214
- 861
- 6
- 16
5
votes
2 answers
Introduction of the Gravitational constant
The constant G in Newton's law $F = G m_1m_2/r^2$ is, as far as I know, absent from Newton's work - who introduced this constant?
user2255
5
votes
1 answer
How did Källén get his name attached to $x^2 + y^2 + z^2 - 2 x y -2 x z- 2 y z$?
For some reason, everybody refers to the function
$$\lambda(x,y,z) = x^2 + y^2 + z^2 - 2xy -2xz-2yz$$
as "Källén's triangle function." (see for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Källén). I understand why its a triangle function…
QuantumDot
- 151
- 5