8

Eisenstein is said to have composed throughout his life. Do any of his compositions survive?

flag
5 
 This seems to be quite off-topic. – S. Carnahan♦ May 31 2011 at 6:50
I agree, and have voted likewise. But this would make a great blog post... – David Roberts May 31 2011 at 7:41
5 
 The history of mathematics has both an inward aspect and an outward one. Internal issues concern the flow of mathematical ideas, e.g. chains of influence, false starts, etc. But mathematics is also a cultural enterprise and its past figures within the broader context of intellectual history. When a mathematician of Eisenstein's statue (Gauss himself ranked Eisenstein alongside Archimedes and Newton) devotes significant time and energy to a non-mathematical pursuit, it is interesting to know whether or not his native mathematical genius finds distinctive expression in the other milieu. – David Feldman May 31 2011 at 9:00
3 
 In any case this seems the likely forum to find someone who knows the disposition of Eisenstein's scientific and personal papers and who can direct me to support, if it exists, for this often repeated biographical claim. Eisenstein's fame rests on his mathematics ... even if a MusicologyOverflow existed, it seems very unlikely that I would find anyone there who would even know the name. – David Feldman May 31 2011 at 9:06
4 
 David F: "Interesting" and "on topic for MO" are not synonymous, even if one puts "Interesting peculiar to mathematicians". My opinion (for what it's worth) is that what keeps MO a place where lots of mathematicians gather is the relative low frequency of questions of this form. If the claim is often repeated in his biographies, surely the best route to find this information is to contact one of the biographers directly. (If you wish to discuss this further, start a thread on meta.MO as it is unlikely that I will check this thread again.) – Andrew Stacey May 31 2011 at 9:10

closed as off topic by Gjergji Zaimi, David Roberts, Andrew Stacey, Todd Trimble, Chandan Singh Dalawat May 31 2011 at 10:05

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.