Question re X-Files use of "Napier's constant"
Jeff560
spoken in X-Files "Paper Clip" #3X02 (Part 3 of 3), original air date,
09/29/95? I see the term in the plot summary. I am interested in the history
of the use of this term for the constant usually designated by "e."
Thank you,
Jeff Miller
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html
Hanna Nikkanen
something there, I didn't bother to go and check it out but that's
what I remember.
You're welcome,
-Hanna
In a galaxy far, far away.
Hank Alme
> Could someone confirm for me that the term "Napier's constant" was
> in fact spoken in X-Files "Paper Clip" #3X02 (Part 3 of 3), original
> air date, 09/29/95? I see the term in the plot summary. I am
> interested in the history of the use of this term for the constant
> usually designated by "e."
It probably has to do with Napier's doing some of the initial work on
logarithms. I had never heard 2.7... called "Napier's Constant" until
the X-Files episode. That suggests to me that in my field (a mix of
Math-Physics-CompSci) that name is not commonly used. Perhaps it is
more common in some other field. Some useful information might be
found in works on the history of mathematics and in biographical works
on Napier, I suppose.
Some info on Napier can be found that these URLs. I liked the first
one better, but I include the second because it lives at my alma
mater, Rice University, so I am a bit biased in its favor.
http://www.napier.ac.uk/jnapier.html
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Catalog/Files/napier.html
Cheers,
Hank
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| Henry J. Alme | We're sorry, the number you have dialed is imaginary. |
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david raoul derbes
Hank Alme <hja...@ucdavis.edu> wrote:
>jef...@aol.com (Jeff560) writes:
Warning! Exceedingly boring mathematical history ahead!
>> Could someone confirm for me that the term "Napier's constant" was
>> in fact spoken in X-Files "Paper Clip" #3X02 (Part 3 of 3), original
>> air date, 09/29/95? I see the term in the plot summary. I am
>> interested in the history of the use of this term for the constant
>> usually designated by "e."
The term was spoken by both the Nazi doctor / orchid grower and also
(I think) Scully.
It shouldn't be called Napier's constant at all; if anything, it should
be called Euler's constant; but we can't do that, as Euler's constant
describes yet another number. The Scot John Napier, Laird of Merchiston
(1550-1617) is widely credited with the invention of logarithms.
It is denoted "e" because Euler named it, I think after himself. (He also
was the first to use pi for the ratio of a circle's perimeter to its diameter
because the first letter of "perimeter" in Greek, and the first to use much
of what we commonly see in high school math classes. The first and greatest
calculus textbook, Introductio in Analysin Infinitorum, was written by
Euler. (Leonhard Euler, Swiss, 1707-1783).
There is an entire book devoted to e: Eli Maor, "e: The Story of a Number",
Princeton U. Press, roughly 1995. The best introduction to logarithms I
know of is Richard Feynman's Lectures, vol.I, lecture 22, "Algebra".
The best history of logarithms I know of is in Herman H. Goldstine's
"A History of Numerical Analysis from the 16th through the 19th century",
Chapters 1 and 2. Napier constructed logs to the base 10 and to the base
e, but does not seem to have calculated the value of e.
So far as I know, the name of the number 2.71828182846... is "e"; but I
have also heard it called "the base of natural logarithms."
David Derbes [lo...@midway.uchicago.edu]
Jeff560
>be called Euler's constant; but we can't do that, as Euler's constant
>describes yet another number.
I am the person who originally asked whether the term "Napier's constant" was
used on the X-Files, and I have learned that it was used, having seen the
script of the particular episode. (I didn't realize scripts of this show were
available on the Internet.)
It may be remarkable that the term was used on the show in 1995. A 1994 book
"e: The story of a number" claims the term has been suggested, since Napier
came close to discovering e, and since the term "Euler's constant" is already
taken. I have found no other use of the term in print. It is in no
dictionary, and all hits for "Napier's constant" on the Internet point to the
X-Files. Thus it's surprising that an X-Files writer may have been aware of
this rather obscure suggestion.
I have webpages devoted to the earliest uses of some mathematical terms at
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html
and I mention the use of the term in the X-Files, although it is not the first
use.
Interestingly, the first digits of Napier's constant were to be entered into
some sort of lock to gain admittance, and in the show the digits 27828 were
entered. Actually "e" is 2.71828..., so this represents an error, which is
pointed out on a list of X-Files errors on another website.
>It is denoted "e" because Euler named it, I think after himself. (He also
>was the first to use pi for the ratio of a circle's perimeter to its diameter
Just to clarify the above, the reason Euler chose "e" is uncertain. There are
some other theories explaining his selection. And although Euler popularized
the use of the Greek letter pi, it was actually William Jones who first used it
for 3.14159....
Hoping this isn't too far off-topic,
Jeff Miller
Michael P. Walsh
Jeff560 wrote:
>
>
> It may be remarkable that the term was used on the show in 1995. A 1994 book
> "e: The story of a number" claims the term has been suggested, since Napier
> came close to discovering e, and since the term "Euler's constant" is already
> taken. I have found no other use of the term in print. It is in no
> dictionary, and all hits for "Napier's constant" on the Internet point to the
> X-Files. Thus it's surprising that an X-Files writer may have been aware of
> this rather obscure suggestion.
>
------
----
Maybe the writer or one of his friends is also either
a mathematician or an engineer.
e isn't one of those things that come up in general
conversation, but it certainly is a much used
term in science and engineering.
Mike Walsh
jeffrey...@gmail.com
dmunz
> Could someone confirm for me that the term "Napier's constant" was in fact
> 09/29/95? I see the term in the plot summary. I am interested in the history
> of the use of this term for the constant usually designated by "e."
>
FWIW
DLM
calvin...@gmail.com
> Could someone confirm for me that the term "Napier's constant" was in fact
> spoken in X-Files "Paper Clip" #3X02 (Part 3 of 3), original air date,
> 09/29/95? I see the term in the plot summary. I am interested in the history
> of the use of this term for the constant usually designated by "e."
>
> Thank you,
> Jeff Miller
>
> http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html
claud...@gmail.com
The first references to the constant were published in 1618 in the table of an appendix of a work on logarithms by John Napier.e):
\lim_{n\to\infty} \left( 1 + \frac{1}{n} \right)^n.
See "The Maths" on Netflik.
craig....@gmail.com
> Could someone confirm for me that the term "Napier's constant" was in fact
> spoken in X-Files "Paper Clip" #3X02 (Part 3 of 3), original air date,
> 09/29/95? I see the term in the plot summary. I am interested in the history
> of the use of this term for the constant usually designated by "e."
>
> Thank you,
> Jeff Miller
>
> http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html
israel...@gmail.com
damonh...@gmail.com
> Could someone confirm for me that the term "Napier's constant" was in fact
> spoken in X-Files "Paper Clip" #3X02 (Part 3 of 3), original air date,
> 09/29/95? I see the term in the plot summary. I am interested in the history
> of the use of this term for the constant usually designated by "e."
>
> Thank you,
> Jeff Miller
>
> http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html
