Comment on Say no to BAYES
edinbruh@feddit.it 5 days agoI’ll admit that was a bit of a stretch. But I also think the naming thing is a problem. Especially in mathematics, even when it is not named after a person, you often have no clue about what it is from just the name (i.e. what do you think is a magma in mathematics?)
wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
I believe that they contribute to understanding, because human minds are wired to engage with stories. If your chemistry teacher was worth their salt, they’d teach you Gay-Lussac’s law by telling you about how, when the hot air balloon was first invented, Gay-Lussac was seen as mad by all of the older scientists for wanting to go up in one. Well, not only did he nearly die making measurements, he also showed that, at higher altitudes, there was lower pressure and lower temperature. Then, your chemistry teacher should pull out a spray-can of keyboard cleaner, invert it, spray the liquid into a beaker, and let everyone feel the adiabatic temperature depression from expansion.
edinbruh@feddit.it 5 days ago
Now that I think about it, I think my teacher called it just “lussac’s law” because you cannot pronounce “Gay-Lussac” in front of a classroom of 14 year old boys. I guess you are right about the stories, but I’m not sure the name actually helps with that