In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Werner Wittmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Karl,
>yes it is as German as your name.Value means "Wert" and eigenvalue means
>"Eigenwert" and I guess it goes back to Carl Friedrich Gauss who provided us
>with many math concepts,i.e. matrix algebra among many others.
Gauss is responsible for lots of things in mathematics and
statistics, but NOT for the "Gaussian distribution" and NOT
for the term "eigenvalue".
The term is originally English as "characteristic value",
and while the concept certainly goes back at least to Euler
(principle axes of an ellipsoid and principle directions of
the inertia matrix), the term came from the British
algebraists in the second half of the 19th century. The
physicists and engineers did not read the algebra books in
English, and copied "eigen" when translating it back.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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