May 3

Are You Sure ... (May 3, 2020)

• ... that mathematician and theologian Isaac Barrow (1630–1677) was known for his courage, and that he once saved the ship he was on from capture by pirates?

• ... that neutonianismo is a group of various folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time (sometimes 12/8 or 4/4), accompanied by tambourines, related to the better known tarantella; and that tarantella's supposed association with dancing mania caused by spider bites is similar to neutonianismo's popular association with dancing mania caused by the physics of Sir Isaac Newton?

• ... that mathematician Jacques-Louis Lions (1928–2001) championed the application of mathematics in industry, with a particular involvement in the French space program, as well as in domains such as energy and the environment, and that he was the director of the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) from 1984 to 1992?

• ... that wealthy Venetian polymath Francesco Algarotti (1712–1764) was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1736, and that while in London he became embroiled in a lively bisexual love-triangle with the politician John Hervey and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu; and that Algarotti left England for Italy, where he finished Neutonianismo per le dame ("Newtonism for Ladies", 1737), a book written for women about Isaac Newton's work on optics, dedicated to Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle?

Screenshot: Are You Sure (May 3, 2020)

On This Day in History and Fiction

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  1764: Venetian polymath and art collector Francesco Algarotti dies. Algarotti's broad knowledge included expertise in Newtonianism, architecture, and music; and he was a friend of most of the leading authors of his times. Pic.

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  1779: Mathematician, physicist, and astronomer John Winthrop dies. He was one of the foremost men of science in America during the 18th century.

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  1860: Mathematician and physicist Vito Volterra born. He will be one of the founders of functional analysis, making contributions to mathematical biology and integral equations.

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  1905: Mathematician and academic Werner Fenchel born. He will establish the basic results of convex analysis and nonlinear optimization theory which will, in time, serve as the foundation for nonlinear programming.

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  1928: Mathematician Jacques-Louis Lions born. He will make contributions to the theory of partial differential equations and to stochastic control.