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Sketching the History of Hypercomplex Numbers

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:22.
  • Ancient (BCE-40 CE)
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Early Modern (15th-18th Century)
  • Mathematics
  • Middle Ages (5th-15th Century)
  • Modern (18th-20th Century)
  • Personal
  • Physical Sciences
  • Primary Source
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://history.hyperjeff.net/hypercomplex.html

Author: 
Jeff Biggus
Excerpt: 

Brahmagupta (598-670) writes Khandakhadyaka which solves quadratic equations and allows for the possibility of negative solutions.
pre
1136 Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi writes the work Hibbur ha-Meshihah ve-ha-Tishboret, translated in 1145 into Latin as Liber embadorum, which presents the first complete solution to the quadratic equation.
1484 Nicolas Chuquet (1445-1500) writes Triparty en la sciences des nombres. The fourth part of which contains the "Regle des premiers," or the rule of the unknown, what we would today call an algebra. He introduced an exponential notation, allowing positive, negative, and zero powers. In solving general equations he showed that some equations lead to imaginary solutions, but dismisses them ("Tel nombre est ineperible").

History of the European Mathematical Society: 1990-98

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:22.
  • Biographical
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Educational
  • Modern (18th-20th Century)
  • Personal
  • Physical Sciences
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://turn.to/EMSHISTORY99

Author: 
European Mathematical Society: 1990-98
Excerpt: 

This brief history of the European Mathematical Society covers a period of slightly more than eight years, from the founding of the Society in 1990 to the end of 1998. The history was commissioned by the Society in order that an account could be composed before memories had faded, leaving only written records. Inevitably the many and changing participants in the activities to be described will have different views of these activities and their significance. The author has aimed to write an objective account - 'history' is really too grandiose a title - from the perspective of one who was present at, and involved in, all of the Council and Executive Committee meetings of the Society, with the exception of one meeting in Cracow. As is well known, proximity to events does not necessarily ensure freedom from prejudice in reporting - and so others must judge the degree of objectivity here achieved; notwithstanding the aim of impartiality, the author has allowed himself the liberty of an occasional subjective comment where it seemed to be particularly apposite.

Leonhard Euler and His Contribution to Number Theory

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Modern (18th-20th Century)
  • Personal
  • Physical Sciences
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://sweb.uky.edu/~jrbail01/euler.htm

Author: 
Jamie Bailey
Excerpt: 

Leonhard Euler is considered by many to be the most prolific mathematician in history. He published 866 books and papers and won the Paris Academy Prize 12 times. He was born in Basel, Switzerland on April 15, 1707 and died on September 18, 1783. Euler was the son of a Lutheran minister and entered the University of Basel to study theology like his father but opted to change his major to mathematics under the advice of Johann Bernoulli. He worked at the St. Petersburg Academy of Science and later at the Berlin Academy of Science. In 1735, Euler lost sight in one eye, and in the late 1760's, he became completely blind. Although blind, Euler had such an incredible memory and mathematical mind, he was able to dictate treatises on algebra, optics, and lunar motion until his death. Francois Arago said of his mathematical talents, "He calculated just as men breathe, as eagles sustain themselves in the air." Once, Euler settled an argument between students whose calculation differed by a digit at the fifteenth decimal place by calculating the answer in his head. Euler's contributions to mathematics include the introduction of the symbols e, i, f(x), , and sigma for summations. He also made significant contributions to differential calculus, mathematical analysis, and number theory, as well as optics, mechanics, electricity, and magnetism.

Euler developed the function, which is defined as the number of positive integers not exceeding m that are relatively prime to m. For example, would equal:

> with(numtheory);

> phi(7);

Kustaa Inkeri -- Portrait of a Mathematician

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Biographical
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Personal
  • Physical Sciences
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://users.utu.fi/taumets/inkeri.htm

Author: 
Tauno Mets‰nkyl‰ and Paulo Ribenboim
Excerpt: 

For the mathematical community, Kustaa Inkeri is the author of significant papers on number theory, especially on topics related to Fermat's Last Theorem. Finnish mathematicians know Inkeri as the founder of the school of number theory in Finland. At the University of Turku, many of us still think of Inkeri as the Head of the Mathematics Department, a position he held for about 20 years.
The present contribution is intended to give a picture of the man behind these achievements. So this is an essay expressly about the person of a mathematician and no attempt will be made to describe or sum up Inkeri's mathematical work. For an appreciation of the latter the reader is asked to take advantage of the rich material in the rest of this volume.

Professor Arnold Walfisz

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Personal
  • Physical Sciences
  • Primary Source
URL: 

http://www.rmi.acnet.ge/person/walfisz/

Author: 
Professor Walfisz
Excerpt: 

MAIN PUBLICATIONS
(i) Monographs
Pell's equation. (Russian) Tbilisi, 1952, pp. 90.
Gitterpunkte in mehrdimensionalen Kugeln. Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa, 1957, pp. 471.
Lattice points in many-dimensional spheres. (Russian) Publ. Academy of Sci., Tbilisi, 1960, pp. 460.
Weylsche Exponentialsummen in der neueren Zahlentheorie. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin, 1963, pp. 231. vskip+0.3cm

Kurt Mahler 1903-1988

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Biographical
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Personal
  • Physical Sciences
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://www.science.org.au/academy/memoirs/mahler.htm

Author: 
J.H. Coates and A.J. van der Poorten
Excerpt: 

Kurt Mahler was born on 26 July 1903 at Krefeld am Rhein in Germany; he died in his 85th year on 26 February 1988 in Canberra, Australia. From 1933 onwards most of his life was spent outside of Germany, but his mathematical roots remained in the great school of mathematics that existed in Germany between the two world wars. Above all Mahler lived for mathematics; he took great pleasure in lecturing, researching and writing. It was no surprise that he remained active in research until the last days of his life. He was never a narrow specialist and had a remarkably broad and thorough knowledge of large parts of current and past mathematical research. At the same time he was oblivious to mathematical fashion, and very much followed his own path through the world of mathematics, uncovering new and simple ideas in many directions. In this way he made major contributions to transcendental number theory, diophantine approximation, p-adic analysis, and the geometry of numbers. Towards the end of his life, Kurt Mahler wrote a considerable amount about his own experiences; see 'Fifty years as a mathematician', 'How I became a mathematician', 'Warum ich eine besondere Vorliebe fur die Mathematik habe', 'Fifty years as a mathematician II'. There is also a recent excellent account of his life and work by Cassels (J.W.S. Cassels, 1991, 'Obituary of Kurt Mahler', Acta Arith. (3), 58, 215-228). In preparing this memoir we have freely used these sources. We have also drawn on our knowledge of and conversations with Mahler, whom we first met when we were undergraduates in Australia in the early 1960s.

Complete History of the Development of Cinematography

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Consumer Technology
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Exhibit
  • Images
  • Modern (18th-20th Century)
  • Personal
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://www.precinemahistory.net/

Author: 
Paul T. Burns
Excerpt: 

This subject has a rich history attached to it. In order to understand the full discovery and development of moving pictures, we must study the various elements of not only this medium, but all others which are related to cinematography and especially photography. This timeline will provide more than a substantial glimpse into the discoveries of these elements which include; optics, pinhole images, camera obscura, persistence of vision, showmen, magic lanterns, light, lenses, light-sensitive substances, phantasmagoria, motion study analysis, photography, and stop-action series photography in the overall growth of photography and ultimately, the movement of pictures.

Annotation: 

This website presents a retrospective history of the dawn of film, and a pre-history of cinema. In fifteen chapters, broken down chronologically, the text deals with the origin of motion pictures and the ancestors of cinema, culminating with the birth of motion pictures in the nineteenth century. This site provides a substantial glimpse into the history and discovery of the marriage of photography, light and shadow, optics and lenses, glass and celluloid, into movement known as cinematography. Each chapter includes brief essays on various innovations and important figures in the development of new technologies, as well as numerous images. A bibliography and page of links to related sites should provide researchers with additional avenues to explore.

History of Iron Smelting

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Ancient (BCE-40 CE)
  • Artifacts
  • Images
  • Industrial/Military Technology
  • Personal
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://www.ironsmelting.net/

Author: 
Alexander Veldhuijzen
Excerpt: 

Read here:    Ethnoarchaeology of Ironsmelting, a comparison of several (sub-Saharan) African ethnographical cases of ironsmelting with the 10th - 8th century BC iron smelting remains from Tell Hammeh az-Zarqa in Jordan here. The description of each case can be read in a separate screen, by clicking on the name of the 'tribe' under the "the cases" header

Antique Typewriter

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Computers/Information Technology
  • Consumer Technology
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Exhibit
  • Modern (18th-20th Century)
  • Personal
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://www.precision-dynamics.com.au/typewriters/index.html

Author: 
Bob Moran
Excerpt: 

This site has been set up as a service to all those dedicated people, who are endeavoring to ensure the history of the typewriter lives on for future generations to enjoy and learn from.
In a country like Australia so removed from the rest of the world this discussion forum hopefully will add to the store of information available.
Around the turn of the century, many machines found their way down under with the tremendous pressures of a developing vibrant economy, which rocketed Australia to a very high standard of living.
How come the writing machine with its rich fascinating history which so influenced commerce, the emancipation of women, is virtually unknown? 1000's of patents were filed during the 19th century covering 100's of the most intriguing designs and we just take the writing machine for granted! Around the turn of the century the typewriter was like the computer was ten years ago, the commercial pressures were tremendous with companies floating and going broke every day trying to gain market share and to devise the perfect writing machine. Who invented it ? Why? When? Where?
Everyone knows what an early Daimler was like but the first commercial typewriter ?

Little History of the World Wide Web

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:21.
  • Computers/Information Technology
  • Contemporary (Post-WWII)
  • Personal
  • Secondary Source
URL: 

http://www.w3.org/History.html

Author: 
Dan Connolly
Excerpt: 

A Little History of the World Wide Web
from 1945 to 1995
1945
Vannevar Bush writes an article in Atlantic Monthly about a photo-electrical-mechanical device called a Memex, for memory extension, which could make and follow links between documents on microfiche
1960s
Doug Engelbart prototypes an "oNLine System" (NLS) which does hypertext browsing editing, email, and so on. He invents the mouse for this purpose. See the Bootstrap Institute library.
Ted Nelson coins the word Hypertext in A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate. 20th National Conference, New York, Association for Computing Machinery, 1965. See also: Literary Machines, a hypertext bibliography.
Andy van Dam and others build the Hypertext Editing System and FRESS in 1967.

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