University of Leicester firing all pure math faculty

Re:University of Leicester firing all pure math faculty by agumonkey on Saturday January 30, 2021 @07:42AM (#25968603)

The opposite is also true. I read a book about early electricity discoveries. People in Europe were all about the deep end theories. America.. pragmatism reigned supreme. As long as you can make something out of phenomenon you're good to go. The book said that by the time Edison made a light bulb, European academics were still debating unproven theories.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:University of Leicester firing all pure math faculty by frobozz on Saturday January 30, 2021 @11:43AM (#25970518)

That book was bunk.

By the time Edison made a light bulb, incandescent light had been initially demonstrated by Davy 70 years beforehand, and shown to practical by Lindsay 35 years after that.

Jobard, de la Rue, and de Moleyns had made experimental light bulbs 40 years beforehand, Lodygin had held a patent for 5 years.

Most crucially, Swan's lightbulbs had been lighting Mosley Street for six months. Carbon arc lights (also shown by Davy early in the 1800s) having been in commercial use for some time before that.

The main invention that made light bulbs practically viable was the improved vacuum pumps of the 1870s, which none of these people lay claim to. This is what led to the rapid development of incandescent light in the 1880s.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:University of Leicester firing all pure math faculty by cambalache on Saturday January 30, 2021 @01:19PM (#25971431)

You should read better researched books

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:University of Leicester firing all pure math faculty by agumonkey on Sunday January 31, 2021 @05:03AM (#25977631)

I think I misremembered because he was an EE from swiss EPFL IIRC.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:University of Leicester firing all pure math faculty by morelisp on Saturday January 30, 2021 @07:45AM (#25968619)

On the other hand, by the time Europeans made the WWW, American capitalists were still trying to figure out how to micromonetize resource transclusion.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:University of Leicester firing all pure math faculty by agumonkey on Saturday January 30, 2021 @07:51AM (#25968657)

Then www rose in the US while France was having meetings about what protocol to use for the minitel. It's and odd pattern.

[ Parent | on HN ]