Questions tagged [naming-conventions]
For questions about the history and/or rationale behind the names of objects or groups of objects.
42 questions
2 votes
0 answers
197 views
What are some theorems with very long names?
I just found this theorem: The de Moivre-Laplace-Lindeberg-Feller-Wiener-Lévy-Doob-Erdös-Kac-Donsker-Prokhorov theorem in "Radically Elementary Probability Theory" by Edward Nelson. I do not ...
- 7,199
3 votes
1 answer
876 views
Why is the Mean Value Theorem (of holomorphic functions) called "Gauss's"?
A handy special case of the Cauchy Integral Formula says that, if a complex function $f$ is analytic on and inside a circle of radius $r$ around $a$, $$f(a) = \frac{1}{2\pi}\int_0^{2\pi} f(a +re^{it}) ...
- 1,173
0 votes
1 answer
151 views
Were oxocarbons other than carbon monoxide/dioxide always classified as organic compounds?
The simplest and most common oxocarbons are carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The general consensus is that they are inorganic (see: Is carbon dioxide organic or inorganic?). The other ...
- 351
22 votes
8 answers
6k views
Has there ever been a case where someone wished a theorem or important result wasn't named after them? Has it happened more than once?
The current answers to the Academia HNQ Should I ask for permission to name a mathematical theorem? include the following (small excerpts): There is no need to ask permission, and mostly likely they ...
- 2,293
1 vote
0 answers
65 views
How we distinguished charges and named them?
As I searched history of nomenclature of charges I got this.., Ben Franklin imagined electricity as a type of invisible fluid that could build up or be absent from a material, or at least certain ...
- 111
4 votes
2 answers
432 views
How did Gaussian and Eisenstein integers get their names?
I can separate this into two questions at some point if necessary, but it's possible that sources for the answer to one will provide the answer to the other at the same time. I learned about ...
- 2,293
-1 votes
1 answer
461 views
How did the Greeks label their axes?
In the current era, we label the Cartesian plane in x and y as our basis vectors, but what did the Greeks use to label their axis? The Greeks were around long before Descartes, so did they even use ...
- 1
3 votes
1 answer
675 views
Do scientists and mathematicians name their discovery or inventions themselves?
We have a lot of things around us, that are named after the principle guys behind it. Is the naming done by the respective person or someone else (like IUPAC for physics)? Example 1: We have Ampere'...
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