Examples of the zeroth theorem of the history of science
Abstract
The zeroth theorem of the history of science (enunciated by E. P. Fischer) and widely known in the mathematics community as Arnol'd's principle states that a discovery (rule, regularity, or insight) named after someone often did not originate with that person. I present five examples from physics: the Lorentz condition ∂μAμ=0 defining the Lorentz gauge of the electromagnetic potentials, the Dirac delta function δ (x), the Schumann resonances of the Earth-ionosphere cavity, the Weizsäcker-Williams method of virtual quanta, and the Bargmann, Michel, and Telegdi equation of spin dynamics. I give sketches of both the actual and reputed discoverers and quote from their "discovery" publications.
- Publication:
-
American Journal of Physics
- Pub Date:
- August 2008
- DOI:
- 10.1119/1.2904468
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0708.4249
- Bibcode:
- 2008AmJPh..76..704J
- Keywords:
-
- 01.65.+g;
- History of science;
- Physics - History of Physics
- E-Print:
- 36 pages, 8 figures. Small revisions, added material and references - Arnol'd's law, Emil Wiechert. Submitted to Am. J. Phys