tt@tarzan.jyu.fi (Tapani Tarvainen) (11/15/90)
[Note strange cross-posting ... there is no sci.math.etymology :-( ] In article <685@atcmpe.atcmp.nl> jc@atcmp.nl (Jan Christiaan van Winkel) writes: >eigenvalue and eigenvector. the word >'eigen' stems from dutch and means something like 'own' or 'self'. I am proud >that at least a few words from my not so widespread language (about 20M people >speak it) make it in international disciplins! :-) I've always thought eigenvalue and eigenvector come from German, not Dutch. Does anybody know where, when and by whom they were first used (1) in any language (which?) and (2) in English, and which way they came to English? -- Tapani Tarvainen (tarvaine@jyu.fi, tarvainen@finjyu.bitnet)
wvenable@spam.ua.oz.au (Bill Venables) (11/16/90)
In article <TT.90Nov15113704@tarzan.jyu.fi> tt@tarzan.jyu.fi (Tapani Tarvainen) writes: > I've always thought eigenvalue and eigenvector come from German, not > Dutch. Does anybody know where, when and by whom they were first used > (1) in any language (which?) and (2) in English, and which way they > came to English? Sorry, I can't speak with authority, but I can guess. In the 30s many German speaking mathematicians went to English speaking countries, mainly the US, as refugees from the Nazis, (particularly those with a Jewish backgrounds, like Einstein and von Neumann). This cleared, for example, almost the entire Heidelberg school which was at that time among the most prolific Mathematics group in the world. They brought many technical terms with them, and some of the punchier ones stuck. (Though occasionally we still use ones like "Nullstellensatz", and the like.) Of course there are plenty of English synonyms for `eigenvalue': `latent root', `proper value', `characteristic root/value', which are still in common use as well, but they mostly involve rather colourless words that tend to be overused in Mathematics anyway. -- Bill Venables, Dept. of Statistics, | Email: venables@spam.adelaide.edu.au Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia. | Phone: +61 8 228 5412
delliott@cec2.wustl.edu (Dave Elliott) (11/16/90)
In German, it's eigenwerth, I think. 40 years ago there were objections
to "eigenvalue" as a barbarism: half German, half English.
David L. Elliott
Dept. of Systems Science and Mathematics
Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130
delliott@CEC2.WUSTL.EDUdolf@idca.tds.PHILIPS.nl (Dolf Grunbauer) (11/17/90)
In article <TT.90Nov15113704@tarzan.jyu.fi> tt@tarzan.jyu.fi (Tapani Tarvainen) writes: <In article <685@atcmpe.atcmp.nl> jc@atcmp.nl (Jan Christiaan van Winkel) writes: <>eigenvalue and eigenvector. the word <>'eigen' stems from dutch and means something like 'own' or 'self'. I am proud <>that at least a few words from my not so widespread language (about 20M people <>speak it) make it in international disciplins! :-) < <I've always thought eigenvalue and eigenvector come from German, not <Dutch. Does anybody know where, when and by whom they were first used <(1) in any language (which?) and (2) in English, and which way they <came to English? I have been told that the idea of 'eigenvalue' ('eigenwaarde' in Dutch) and 'eigenvector' was discovered by a Dutch mathematician (Christian Huygens ?) and he called it that way. He wrote a book about it and so it became known to the rest of the world. Another famous Dutch word is 'apartheid'. -- _ _ / U | Dolf Grunbauer Tel: +31 55 433233 Internet dolf@idca.tds.philips.nl /__'< Philips Information Systems UUCP ...!mcsun!philapd!dolf 88 |_\ If you are granted one wish do you know what to wish for right now ?
cedman@golem.ps.uci.edu (Carl Edman) (11/17/90)
In article <1990Nov16.052910.13041@cec1.wustl.edu> delliott@cec2.wustl.edu (Dave Elliott) writes:
In German, it's eigenwerth, I think. 40 years ago there were objections
to "eigenvalue" as a barbarism: half German, half English.
David L. Elliott
Dept. of Systems Science and Mathematics
Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130
delliott@CEC2.WUSTL.EDU
Now, if we really want to nitpick (and we do, don't we ?), it is
eigenwert ! (no 'h')
Carl Edman
Theorectical Physicist,N.:A physicist whose | Send mail
existence is postulated, to make the numbers | to
balance but who is never actually observed | cedman@golem.ps.uci.edu
in the laboratory. | edmanc@uciph0.ps.uci.edujroth@allvax.enet.dec.com (Jim Roth) (11/17/90)
Why, the term is named after Professor Eigen of course! Everyone knows that...
wvenable@spam.ua.oz.au (Bill Venables) (11/19/90)
In article <CEDMAN.90Nov16112423@lynx.ps.uci.edu> cedman@golem.ps.uci.edu (Carl Edman) writes: >> In article <1990Nov16.052910.13041@cec1.wustl.edu> >> delliott@cec2.wustl.edu (Dave Elliott) writes: >> In German, it's eigenwerth, I think. 40 years ago there were >> objections to "eigenvalue" as a barbarism: half German, half English. > Now, if we really want to nitpick (and we do, don't we ?), it is > eigenwert ! (no 'h') ... and like all German nouns it should have a capital letter: Eigenwert. :-) -- Bill Venables, Dept. of Statistics, | Email: venables@spam.adelaide.edu.au Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia. | Phone: +61 8 228 5412