H is a capital "eta" in the Greek alphabet. See: http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/84719/why-is-h-used-for-entropy
|"|"|""//*\\""|"|"| Geoffrey M. Henebry, Ph.D., C.S.E. Professor of Natural Resource Management Co-Director & Senior Research Scientist Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence (GSCE) South Dakota State University 1021 Medary Ave., Wecota Hall 506B Brookings, SD 57007-3510, USA voice: 1-605-688-5351 (-5227 FAX) email: [email protected] http://globalmonitoring.sdstate.edu -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of ling huang Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 11:54 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Why is the Shannon (or Shannon Weiner, Shannon-Weiner) diversity index abbreviated with the letter H? Hi I think it is to do with entropy? See this article by Spellerberg and Fedor (2003) in Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol 12 https://www.fns.uniba.sk/fileadmin/user_upload/editors/envi/kef/fedor/pdf1.pdf and then do a search on 'why H for entropy' (e.g., see H-theorem - statistical mechanics - number of molecules that have kinetic energy between .....). Ling Huang Chemistry Dept Sacramento City College ________________________________ From: Jorge A. Santiago-Blay <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 8:22 AM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Why is the Shannon (or Shannon Weiner, Shannon-Weiner) diversity index abbreviated with the letter H? Hello Ecolog-L: Does anyone know why the Shannon (or Shannon Weiner, Shannon-Weiner) diversity index abbreviated with the letter H? .....
