Principle Arnold

The concept of eponyms in scientific discoveries is intriguing and is highlighted by two principles: Arnold’s Principle and Stigler’s Law of Eponymy. Here’s a restructured and detailed summary suitable for a personal knowledge base:

Arnold’s Principle:

  • Proposed by Vladimir I. Arnold, this principle focuses on the naming of scientific results.
  • It asserts that if a concept carries a personal name, it’s usually not named after the actual discoverer.
  • Arnold discusses this in his works, including an article in “Advances in Mathematical Sciences” (1998) and his book “New Obscurantism and Russian Enlightenment” (2003).

Stigler’s Law of Eponymy:

  • Formulated by Stephen Stigler, a statistics professor, this law parallels Arnold’s Principle.
  • Stigler’s Law states: “No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.”
  • Interestingly, Stigler credited the law’s discovery to sociologist Robert Merton, thereby applying his law to itself.

Examples and Insights:

  1. Boyle–Mariotte Law:
  • Traditionally attributed to Boyle, the actual contributor was Hooke, Boyle’s assistant.
  • Boyle published the law in 1660, acknowledging Hooke’s contribution without claiming co-authorship.
  1. Taylor Series:
  • Commonly linked to Taylor, who was Newton’s student, its true originator was Newton.
  • Newton’s work predates Taylor’s, and he explored expansions of functions like sine, exponent, and logarithm into series.
  • Newton’s formula in finite difference calculus and the general form of the Taylor formula were originally his findings, albeit presented differently.

These principles and examples emphasize the complexity and collaborative nature of scientific discovery. Often, the names we associate with scientific laws or concepts are not the original discoverers. This reflects a broader narrative in the history of science, where recognition is sometimes influenced more by social, academic, or historical contexts than by the actual chronology of discovery.