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<comment removed> If you have any questions or comments for this proposal, please use 'create new discussion' below. – Robert Cartaino♦ May 7 '12 at 14:40

24 Example Questions

active oldest votes

up vote 13 down vote

added by yossale May 6 '12 at 8:52

up vote 11 down vote

added by yossale May 6 '12 at 8:50

up vote 11 down vote

added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:41

It is an almost painful story, but an excellent question. – ernestopheles Dec 12 '12 at 17:46

up vote 11 down vote

added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:48

This is a really a philosophy of science question. I think this question is interesting in relation to the history of science, but then it is a question in HPS, which is not really covered by the present proposal. – DBK Oct 30 '12 at 21:32

@DBK: see my discussion on this proposal :) – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 7:25

Also, WTF? Complex numbers are used more in electrical engineering than in most sciences. Clearly they have a broad application. – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 8:47

That's the point of the question, that complex numbers have found wide applicability. Perhaps my edit of the question makes the the idea clearer. – David Gorsline Nov 30 '12 at 1:09

There's also a bunch of great history here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_calculus. I'd claim that at least one application (solving differential equations by converting them to algebraic equations) was in use for years before it was mathematically justified (through Laplace transforms). – Wandering Logic May 15 at 20:40

up vote 10 down vote

added by Trevor Owens May 8 '12 at 13:52

up vote 10 down vote

added by Trevor Owens May 8 '12 at 13:56

up vote 10 down vote

added by Trevor Owens May 8 '12 at 13:58

up vote 10 down vote

added by Nicol Bolas May 10 '12 at 2:28

up vote 10 down vote

added by Trevor Owens May 18 '12 at 20:43

up vote 10 down vote

added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:44

Is it? It certainly helps, but plenty of papers are written, or co-written by students. Perhaps there's a good question there! – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:39

up vote 8 down vote

added by yossale, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 9 '12 at 18:13

up vote 7 down vote

added by David Gorsline May 23 '12 at 15:53

This is potentially an awsesome question, but it is far to broad to be answered as-is. You could write a textbook in answer to this question. Maybe it could be pared down somehow? – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 9:28

up vote 6 down vote

added by M Turgeon May 15 '12 at 18:19

	I don't understand why "major physicist" and "18th century" are relevant. How about rephrasing as "Was the Problem of Induction in physics ever addressed before the 19th century?" – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 9:30
	@naught101 Certainly, "major" could be remove. On the other hand, the Problem of Induction comes up in the work of 18th century philosphers, like Hume and later Kant, and this is why 18th century is relevant. – M Turgeon Nov 16 '12 at 13:25

up vote 6 down vote

added by boulder_ruby May 23 '12 at 16:26

up vote 5 down vote

added by LanceLafontaine Jul 21 '12 at 19:03

up vote 4 down vote

added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:44

up vote 3 down vote

added by TomD May 19 '12 at 11:27

up vote 3 down vote

added by TomD May 19 '12 at 11:33

up vote 2 down vote

added by Logan M May 11 at 0:23

up vote 1 down vote

added by Openmedi Jul 6 '12 at 13:23

up vote 1 down vote

added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:32

up vote 1 down vote

added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 12:49

up vote 0 down vote

added by naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 8:44

Note: This question clearly does not fit within a "history of science" SE, but it clearly does fit within a metascience or HPS SE. Please read and vote on the two discussions at the top of the page before voting here. – naught101 Nov 15 '12 at 8:46