User Gerald Edgar - History of Science and Mathematics Stack Exchange

64 votes

Examples of when the professional scientists or mathematicians were wrong, but the nonprofessionals were right

answered Jan 18, 2019 at 13:33

33 votes

Historical example of research papers being misinterpreted due to poor wording and creating controversy?

answered Oct 10, 2021 at 18:48

30 votes

Why are $X$ and $Y$ commonly used as mathematical placeholders?

answered Dec 27, 2018 at 19:31

25 votes

Which mathematicians died very young or in a tragic way?

answered Nov 28, 2015 at 2:34

23 votes

When was the first recorded use of subscript in mathematics to represent index?

answered May 10, 2021 at 12:11

21 votes

Where were mathematical/science works posted before the arxiv website?

answered Jan 26, 2021 at 12:55

21 votes

Has physics ever given a physical significance to a mathematically abstract idea?

answered Jun 7, 2021 at 17:18

20 votes

Mathematical results that became known long after their authors passed away

answered May 3, 2020 at 10:57

18 votes

How did scientists plot complicated graphs in the 19th century?

answered Apr 8, 2016 at 15:16

17 votes

Are there any anonymous contributions to mathematics that had a great impact?

answered Oct 29, 2015 at 3:12

16 votes

Has science fiction ever caused scientists to do real research?

answered Apr 23, 2018 at 13:23

16 votes

Accepted

What did the study plan of an early 20th century mathematics undergraduate program look like?

answered Apr 29, 2023 at 15:34

15 votes

History of italicising variables and mathematical formatting in general

answered Jul 31, 2022 at 14:42

14 votes

How did the notion of rigour in Euclid’s time differ from that in the 1920 revolution of Math?

answered Nov 14, 2022 at 21:48

13 votes

Historical examples of "pseudoscience" becoming "science"

answered Oct 3, 2022 at 11:26

12 votes

Accepted

Why are the symbols E, F, G, L, M, and N used for the coefficients of the fundamental forms?

answered Jun 23, 2022 at 19:45

12 votes

Accepted

Plagiarism at the turn of 20th century

answered Jan 27, 2020 at 13:36

11 votes

Are there widely accepted math symbols using non-Latin alphabets or characters other than Greek and Hebrew?

answered Dec 29, 2019 at 14:33

11 votes

Accepted

Where did John Wallis get the idea for $\infty$?

answered May 21, 2016 at 1:03

10 votes

Accepted

Who coined the term "iff" for "if and only if"?

answered Feb 6, 2018 at 13:13

10 votes

Why is it called the butterfly effect?

answered Oct 16, 2017 at 16:50

10 votes

Who coined the term random variable?

answered Jun 10, 2019 at 21:38

10 votes

Accepted

Mathematics development can sometimes exceed the practical needs, right?

answered Sep 29, 2018 at 14:51

10 votes

Is there any example of a long-standing mathematical conjecture whose resolution did not require advanced knowledge?

answered Jul 12, 2021 at 15:36

10 votes

Accepted

Why is Freeth's nephroid called a nephroid?

answered Feb 11, 2021 at 20:59

9 votes

What are some famous mathematicians that disappeared?

answered Sep 5, 2021 at 13:44

9 votes

Secrecy in Mathematics

answered Jul 3, 2022 at 17:33

9 votes

Did amateurs ever produce important proofs or similar?

answered Aug 16, 2018 at 14:13

9 votes

Diagrams in early Mathematical Paper Publication

answered Jun 28, 2016 at 21:46

9 votes

Example of abstract math theory that was later found to be applicable to physical world?

answered Feb 14, 2016 at 13:32

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162 Answers

Examples of when the professional scientists or mathematicians were wrong, but the nonprofessionals were right

Historical example of research papers being misinterpreted due to poor wording and creating controversy?

Why are $X$ and $Y$ commonly used as mathematical placeholders?

Which mathematicians died very young or in a tragic way?

When was the first recorded use of subscript in mathematics to represent index?

Where were mathematical/science works posted before the arxiv website?

Has physics ever given a physical significance to a mathematically abstract idea?

Mathematical results that became known long after their authors passed away

How did scientists plot complicated graphs in the 19th century?

Are there any anonymous contributions to mathematics that had a great impact?

Has science fiction ever caused scientists to do real research?

What did the study plan of an early 20th century mathematics undergraduate program look like?

History of italicising variables and mathematical formatting in general

How did the notion of rigour in Euclid’s time differ from that in the 1920 revolution of Math?

Historical examples of "pseudoscience" becoming "science"

Why are the symbols E, F, G, L, M, and N used for the coefficients of the fundamental forms?

Plagiarism at the turn of 20th century

Are there widely accepted math symbols using non-Latin alphabets or characters other than Greek and Hebrew?

Where did John Wallis get the idea for $\infty$?

Who coined the term "iff" for "if and only if"?

Why is it called the butterfly effect?

Who coined the term random variable?

Mathematics development can sometimes exceed the practical needs, right?

Is there any example of a long-standing mathematical conjecture whose resolution did not require advanced knowledge?

Why is Freeth's nephroid called a nephroid?

What are some famous mathematicians that disappeared?

Secrecy in Mathematics

Did amateurs ever produce important proofs or similar?

Diagrams in early Mathematical Paper Publication

Example of abstract math theory that was later found to be applicable to physical world?