[seqfan] Re: Who named Catalan numbers?

[gould at math.wvu.edu]

NEVER HEARD OF ANY SUCH RULE IN MY 65 YEARS IN MATHEMATICS.

> Isn't there a well-established rule that says that a theorem/lemma/formula
> in mathematics must not be named after the person
> who discovered it? Of course there are exceptions.
> But it avoids a lot of debate!
> Neil
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 7:04 AM, Peter Luschny
> <peter.luschny at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> HWG> In my work over the past 60 years I have sometimes
>> HWG> called the numbers 1, 2, 2, 5, 14, 42, ... the
>> HWG> 'Euler-Fuss-Segner-Catalan' numbers, especially in
>> HWG> my well-known Bibilography. But I always agreed with
>> HWG> my old friends John Riordan and Leonard Carlitz that
>> HWG> the single name 'Catalan' was sufficient unto the
>> HWG> purpose thereof.
>>
>> Maybe even better then 'Euler-Fuss-Segner-Catalan' would
>> be 'Euler-Fuss-Segner-Lamé'. It was Gabriel Lamé who
>> proved Euler's conjecture P_{n+1}=P_{n}(4n-6)/n in 1838.
>> Thus the most important relations of the Catalan numbers
>> were investigated and proved before Catalan entered the scene.
>>
>> (See page 19 of this nice talk on the history of Catalan numbers
>> which shows a paper of Catalan deriving some consequences
>> from Lamé's proof:
>> http://www.mathnet.or.kr/real/2010/01/OtfriedCheong(0112).pdf )
>>
>> HWG> but the appellation 'Cauchy-Schwartz-Bouniakovsky Inequality'
>> HWG> is rather a mouthful to keep saying and so in his lectures he
>> HWG> sometimes just called it 'inequality 3.19'.
>>
>> Certainly 'Cauchy-Schwartz' is better than 'inequality 3.19' as
>> 'Catalan numbers' is better than 'A000108'.
>>
>> On the other hand the name 'Euler-Lamé' seems to me both
>> historical appropriate and short enough to use in a lecture.
>>
>> Peter
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Dear Friends, I have now retired from AT&T. New coordinates:
>
> Neil J. A. Sloane, President, OEIS Foundation
> 11 South Adelaide Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904, USA.
> Also Visiting Scientist, Math. Dept., Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ.
> Phone: 732 828 6098; home page: http://NeilSloane.com
> Email: njasloane at gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Seqfan Mailing list - http://list.seqfan.eu/
>