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93 Example Questions

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What was the reason for crediting the discovery of DNA structure to Crick and Watson and excluding Franklin and Wilkins?
added by DJClayworth Apr 16 '14 at 17:15
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Who played important role in bringing cancer to the attention of public ?
added by biogirl Apr 16 '14 at 16:20
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How was Huntigton's disease first identified ?
added by biogirl Apr 15 '14 at 17:33
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Is it true that Millikan graded each run of his oil drop experiment according to how 'good' he thought the result was?
added by DJClayworth Apr 15 '14 at 14:19
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Is it true that de Moivre calculated the date of his death based on certain pattern in his sleeping hours which he noticed at some point of his life?
added by J. H. S. Mar 30 '14 at 3:37
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Bonus points: If this were not true, do you have any idea on how such an story originated? – J. H. S. Mar 30 '14 at 3:50
This sounds like something for Skeptics … – Wrzlprmft Mar 30 '14 at 11:10
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Is there any evidence that the computer had been theorized by others prior to Charles Babbage's pioneering attempt to build a difference engine?
added by Jonathan Van Matre Mar 28 '14 at 4:56
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Did the 1956 AI/cybernetics split in the US (& subsequent cybernetics defunding) cause the US to lag behind other nations significantly in the field?
added by Jonathan Van Matre Mar 28 '14 at 4:28
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Was Mendel lucky enough to select 7 different non-linked traits for his pea hybrid research, or is there evidence he studied and discarded others?
added by Jonathan Van Matre Mar 21 '14 at 15:48
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When was the short notation for billion (10^9 instead of 10^12) first introduced and why?
added by aretxabaleta Mar 19 '14 at 17:18
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Possibly more a linguistics question than science/math. – GEdgar Mar 22 '14 at 19:08
While there is a linguistics aspect to the question, the confusion between the short and long notation permeates many scientific discussions (e.g., Earth Sciences). – aretxabaleta Apr 16 '14 at 13:04
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Is is true that the word 'mathematicians' meant what we now call 'astrologers'? Boas would even add that the modern meaning went back to around 1400.
added by J. H. S. Mar 10 '14 at 0:11
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... How did Boas find that out? – J. H. S. Mar 10 '14 at 3:20
The mention of the date is interesting. Where does he say that? – Andres Caicedo Mar 10 '14 at 7:00
In a short note which he wrote for the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal... It all had to do with a famous quotation by Augustine of Hippo. – J. H. S. Mar 13 '14 at 0:40
Thank you. I'll have to look it up, I'm curious. – Andres Caicedo Mar 13 '14 at 1:46
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How & When did days of the week, named after celestial bodies became commonly adopted across civilizations?
added by palanik Mar 9 '14 at 20:32
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What is the difference between the concept of logical truth as used in the works of Frege and Russell and the concept of valid formula in e.g.Godel ?
added by Mauro ALLEGRANZA Mar 8 '14 at 14:34
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Whose shoulders did Newton stand on?
added by TooTone Mar 7 '14 at 23:56
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Newton "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Whose work was vital for Principia and Calculus (and why)? – TooTone Mar 7 '14 at 23:58
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What was the scientific understanding of biological evolution before Darwin's "Origin of Species?"
added by Colin McFaul Mar 7 '14 at 18:47
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What is the oldest reference to any electricity (except atmospheric lighting)?
added by Dheerendra Mar 6 '14 at 18:48
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Did you perhaps mean atmospheric lightning? – Jonathan Van Matre Apr 3 '14 at 16:50
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Is there any evidence that Leibniz and/or Newton were aware of previous work by Indian mathematicians towards the calculus?
added by arjafi Mar 4 '14 at 15:14
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Why are uppercase greek math symbols traditionally not set in italics?
added by Wrzlprmft Mar 2 '14 at 11:07
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Why is nowadays English the language of science ?
added by User51 Mar 1 '14 at 10:10
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Wow, this is a great question. – Jack M Mar 2 '14 at 9:13
Thanks, I am not an English native speaker, thus... ;-) – User51 Mar 17 '14 at 11:23
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How old is the peer-review process in scientific publishing ?
added by User51 Mar 1 '14 at 10:02
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This is a good question! – Andres Caicedo Apr 12 '14 at 17:45
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Why was the continental drift theory of Alfred Wegener so controversial in the first part of the 20th century ?
added by User51 Mar 1 '14 at 9:56
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How were the concepts of velocity and acceleration first separated? Were they even ever conflated in the literature?
added by BMS Mar 1 '14 at 2:09
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I've written an essay about the history of mathematics (or for some particular period or field of math). Could I have some feedback, please?
added by frabala Feb 28 '14 at 16:45
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To be honest, I saw this question and thought that it would be perfect to ask it at this Q&A site. – frabala Feb 28 '14 at 16:47
Analogues of this question are considered as off-topic on various sites, and I am in favor of generic requests for feedback being off-topic on this site too. – quid Mar 1 '14 at 15:05
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If making graphene was as easy as removing layers with scotch tape and it's structure was postulated for years, why was it so difficult to discover?
added by kaine Feb 27 '14 at 22:45
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The body of the question would elaborate but graphene was discussed but deemed thermodynamically impossible for years before the "scotch tape" method was used to produce it from graphite. – kaine Feb 27 '14 at 22:47
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Besides Maxwell and Newton, from what other sources did Einstein take concepts and inspiration to develop the theory of relativity?
added by kaine Feb 27 '14 at 22:38
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why were Galois's ideas rejected by his contemporaries?
added by Lost1 Feb 26 '14 at 23:29
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Maybe a wording not presupposing things would help: "Were Galois's ideas rejected by his contemporaries; and if so, why?" – GEdgar Mar 22 '14 at 19:13
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Which attempts were made to formalize differentiation and integration before the modern limit definition?
added by Ian Mateus Feb 26 '14 at 21:19
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What are some examples of theorems/lemmas attributed to someone who is not its discoverer or discovered it after it was already known?
added by kan Feb 26 '14 at 19:17
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Perhaps too broad but I think this question is interesting if we restrict ourselves to just one area of Mathematics, for example. – kan Feb 26 '14 at 19:18
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Here you can find plenty of them: mathoverflow.net/questions/24132/… – J. H. S. Mar 6 '14 at 0:14
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When and how was it realized that our Sun and the stars we see at night are the same thing?
added by BMS Feb 26 '14 at 17:29
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What is the first development in mathematics without any known or suspected application to science or the real wrold (at the time of its invention)?
added by BMS Feb 26 '14 at 4:53
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Is there a better way to phrase this? I want to get at a development in math that was entirely "thought up," without science being an external motivation. Basically, mathematics for the sake of mathematics. – BMS Feb 26 '14 at 4:54
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@BMS: How about “mathematics without any known or suspected application (at the time of its invention)”? – Wrzlprmft Feb 26 '14 at 10:16
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When/where did meetings and conferences first begin to become popular venues for disseminating one's research?
added by delete Feb 26 '14 at 3:23
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Hawking mentions in ABHT that Newton remarked once that the famed apple act'lly DISTRACTED him from his lucubrations. Where did Newton write/say this?
added by J. H. S. Feb 25 '14 at 22:10
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Are there any points in common in Newton's and Leibniz's development of the Calculus or are their approaches totally different from each other?
added by J. H. S. Feb 25 '14 at 21:57
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Who were some prominent early entomologists, and what were their contributions? science
added by Confutus Feb 25 '14 at 21:40
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What is thought to be the earliest clear explanation of the hydrologic cycle?
added by Confutus Feb 25 '14 at 21:10
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Who first worked with Silicone polymers?
added by Confutus Feb 25 '14 at 20:45
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When was it recognized by scientists that the surface temperature of Venus must be extremely high compared to the earth?
added by Confutus Feb 25 '14 at 19:25
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Are there unequivocal criteria to name institutions (e.g. universities) important centers of mathematical research, from a historical perspective?
added by MathsBooks Feb 25 '14 at 10:56
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When did physics texts start to teach Kepler's 3/2's power law as a result of Newton's 1/r^2 law of gravitation, rather than the other way around?
added by Colin McFaul Feb 25 '14 at 5:10
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Newton derived the 1/r^2 form of his law of gravitation from Kepler's 3/2's power law. – Colin McFaul Feb 25 '14 at 5:10
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How did Staudinger demonstrate that polymers are high molecular weight covalently bonded molecules?
added by Colin McFaul Feb 25 '14 at 4:56
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What is known about the mathematics of the ancient civilizations of South-East Asia, such as the Khmer empire?
added by Per Manne Feb 24 '14 at 22:23
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