The 17 Equations That Changed The Course Of History

[Svnla]

Ok, you nerds, especially the math and science grads, do ya'll agree or disagree? Are there other equations even better/more important? What say you?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/17-equations-changed-course-history-212340619.html

 

[The Boston Dangler]

where the hell are newton's laws of motion 1, 2 and 3? pi? t=$?

and if you think e=mc^2, it turns out you're wrong.

 

[AViking]

Odd to pick only 17. Where for example are kepler's laws and newton's laws of motion? To exclude those is bizarre.

 

[purbeast0]

wow no f=ma on there? my physics teacher ingrained that in my head.

 

[IronWing]

Add the girl...

 

[akugami]

At the risk of sounding stupid, how about 1+1=2. Seriously. The concept of math has to start somewhere...

 

[Jaepheth]

wow no f=ma on there? my physics teacher ingrained that in my head.

Seriously.

How the hell do you not include F=MA?

Also, No quadratic equation? WTF

 

[Gibsons]

Seriously.

How the hell do you not include F=MA?

Also, No quadratic equation? WTF

yeah, both of those. Also Dirac maybe?

 

[alkemyst]

At the risk of sounding stupid, how about 1+1=2. Seriously. The concept of math has to start somewhere...

1+1 = 2 would not be a start. Perhaps you meant an identity?

 

[akugami]

1+1 = 2 would not be a start. Perhaps you meant an identity?

I dunno. Maybe I'm bad at expressing what I mean in this case. Just the concept of numbers and the start of mathematics which is why I used 1+1=2.

 

[UncleWai]

0.999999999......=1

 

[LegendKiller]

No gaussian copula...eh?

The one formula that crashed the global economy.

 

[Schmide]

James Gregory, Brook Taylor, Colin Maclaurin

Taylor Series should be in there.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Weird that the article mentions Newton's laws of motion in the description of Maxwells but fails to list them. That was a big oversight.

Another glaring omission is eulers formula

 

[silverpig]

F=ma is a big omission. If you put that in, you basically get Newton's gravity (a = GM/r^2) and a bunch of other things.

edit: actually, I think the way Newton originally wrote it was

p = mv

dp/dt = vdm/dt + mdv/dt

Usually you have dm/dt = 0, so you're left with dp/dt = mdv/dt

Or dp/dt = ma

Or F = dp/dt

Not sure off to top of my head which one he used originally.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Ok, you nerds, especially the math and science grads, do ya'll agree or disagree? Are there other equations even better/more important? What say you?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/17-equations-changed-course-history-212340619.html

i would like to point out that Leibniz is responsible for the notation used in modern calculus, so he should be on there too, not just Newton

recognized everything except the last 3.

 

[darkxshade]

U+Me = Us

 

[DrPizza]

where the hell are newton's laws of motion 1, 2 and 3? pi? t=$?

and if you think e=mc^2, it turns out you're wrong.

Last time I checked, nuclear reactors were pretty stationary - they weren't orbiting the Earth at high speed, and Newton's laws easily fall under calculus.

I don't think Euler's Formula for polyhedra did much to change the world. And, I'm not so sure that the formula listed for chaos theory really did much other than give students of mathematics a more intuitive understanding of how chaotic certain equations may behave. Pythagoras' theorem was certainly known before his time - unless I'm mistaken, there's evidence that even the ancient Babylonians used it. Nonetheless, I don't think it "changed the world." Ditto for the imaginary unit. It was conceived of by one of the Greeks, later re"discovered" by Cardano (I think), but remained mostly useless for a few hundred more years. (Not that it isn't really important these days.) For those complaining about the lack of Newton's Laws, perhaps they fall under the umbrella of calculus? (Since, can't all of Newtonian mechanics be derived using a bit of calculus?) Likewise someone mentioned Kepler's Laws which can be directly derived from Newton's laws. http://www.vikdhillon.staff.shef.ac.uk/teaching/phy105/celsphere/phy105_derivation.html Probably why Lagrange was left out of the list as well.

Of all of the equations, I think Maxwell's equations had the most profound influence on the world.

 

[DrPizza]

i would like to point out that Leibniz is responsible for the notation used in modern calculus, so he should be on there too, not just Newton

recognized everything except the last 3.

<singing>
Why he wrote it I can't say, Leibnitz just liked it better that way.
Soooooo f of x plus h minus f of x all over h as h drops to zero is the formula to find the derivative to otherwise state instantaneous rate.
</singing>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90SYZNnO3z8
edit: not my class singing - I've never recorded my class while they sang that song. It's amazing to see even the weakest math students quickly memorize the formula for the derivative (and what it does) using that song.

 

[ciba]

How about basic probability?

On that note, Against the Gods should be required reading for everyone.

 

[Fenixgoon]

<singing>
Why he wrote it I can't say, Leibnitz just liked it better that way.
Soooooo f of x plus h minus f of x all over h as h drops to zero is the formula to find the derivative to otherwise state instantaneous rate.
</singing>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90SYZNnO3z8
edit: not my class singing - I've never recorded my class while they sang that song. It's amazing to see even the weakest math students quickly memorize the formula for the derivative (and what it does) using that song.

that's pretty hilarious

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

can't all of Newtonian mechanics be derived using a bit of calculus

I don't consider calculus an "equation". It's a technique and there are equations involved, but I wouldn't say that equations of motions fall out of it any more than Maxwells. Easier to work with, and to get there, however calculus does not motion make.

Maxwell had an incredible mind. His equations work almost as well as quantum electrodynamics in the vast majority of cases and is an outstanding work. Many think of Einstein as THE genius, however it is my opinion that Maxwell had the superior mind. Another I consider among the first tier who was mentioned, but not nearly as well known as Maxwell or Einstein was J. Willard Gibbs. Absolutely astounding.

Euler and Gauss? Gods among men

 

[Fayd]

Ok, you nerds, especially the math and science grads, do ya'll agree or disagree? Are there other equations even better/more important? What say you?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/17-equations-changed-course-history-212340619.html

a huge number of theorems in statistics rely on Cauchy's inequality.

information theory relies heavily on Chebyshev's inequality.

from my way of thinking, equations are less impressive than inequalities. because we're placing ballparks on unknowns.

 

[bolomite]

Ideal gas law: PV = nRT

Gibbs free energy: delta G = (delta H) - T (delta S)

 

[clamum]

I saw this one posted in the dorms in college:

. Must be important!