Timeline for German mathematical terms like "Nullstellensatz"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 27, 2015 at 20:10 | comment | added | Sebastian Goette | There is in German a term "Kleinsche Fläche", which refers to very particular Riemann surfaces. See for example this article. I once listened to a talk where the speaker emphasized that "Kleinsche Fläche" and "Kleinsche Flasche" are completely different things ... | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 21:41 | comment | added | Vectornaut | Very interesting! I wonder which came first---the term "Klein bottle," or the standard bottle-shaped immersion of the Klein bottle? To me, the picture of the Klein surface in the book Tara Brough linked is quite striking---I don't think I've ever seen the Klein surface drawn that way, even though it's a perfectly natural way of doing it. | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 14:08 | comment | added | user9072 | Some more information: Wiki-page (engl.) references 'Low-dimensional geometry: from Euclidean surfaces to hyperbolic knots' by Bonahon for the name. This book (p.95) however does not refer this as fact but rather says (emphasize mine): 'The "bottle" terminology is usually understood to reflect the fact that a Klein bottle can be obtained from a regular wine bottle by [...]. Another interpretation (unverified, and not incompatible with the previous one) claims that it comes from a bad pun, or a bad translation from the German [...]' | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 12:37 | comment | added | user9072 | @Tara Brough, thank you. @unknown (the answering one): yes, I didn't doubt so much that it started as 'Fläche' (I should have phrased my initially comment more carefully). But how could possibly a translation occur that changes 'Fläche', or 'Flache' or even 'Flaeche' into 'bottle' by mistaking it for 'Flasche' in a math context ?! If it were called 'Klein flat' (flach=flat, adj.), then fine, I would believe any time in a transl. problem. But 'bottle' as a result of translation (rather than a decision, as a play on the shape, in whichever language), this is really hard to believe. | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 11:53 | comment | added | user11235 | It will certainly be hard or impossible to prove the last step in the development as one would have to verify that bottle turns up first in English. But it is certainly true that it started out as Fläche/Flache. On the other hand, it could be easily disproved by a letter from a mathematician stating his motivations to introduce the name bottle. | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 11:47 | comment | added | Tara Brough | After a bit of googling, I found the term "Kleinsche Fläche in an old German book: books.google.com/… | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 11:43 | comment | added | user9072 | Here the commenting unknown again: sorry for my initial doubts. What you write certainly agrees with the German Wikipedia entry, though that entry is a bit vague (as it is more or less reportes a rumour). Perhaps I will try to find some more information. If this turns out to be true it is a quite fun development. So, +1. | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 11:35 | comment | added | user11235 | It was then retranslated to German as Kleinsche Flasche which I omitted above because the question asks about usage in English. So unless you are 120 years old, you have no chance to have heard Kleinsche Fläche. | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 11:33 | comment | added | user9072 | In German I never heard this called anything else than 'Kleinsche Flasche' (I thus somewhat doubt there was the development you sketch). | |
| Apr 19, 2011 at 11:28 | history | answered | user11235 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |