1
$\begingroup$

Why is the letter L for Georges LeMaîtres often, or even usually, left out?

Does he, or does he not, deserve some credit for this cosmological solution to Einstein's general relativity?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ He derived the Hubble law two years before Hubble verified it observationally, and proposed a "beginning of time". I think he deserves some credit. $\endgroup$
    – pela
    Commented May 31, 2021 at 9:18
  • $\begingroup$ There are countless examples in physics (and science generally) of names not properly reflecting the people who independently or even in collaboration developed the concept, even if they're names are on e.g. the relevant paper(s). Human desire for short names seems to mean some people are kind of robbed of credit they're due. $\endgroup$
    – StephenG - Help Ukraine
    Commented May 31, 2021 at 13:45
  • $\begingroup$ This question could be asked of almost any solution or equation or model in science. Almost every equation, etc. has many contributors and the name of said equation, etc. often picks the most important contributors to name it after. However, which names are used can vary by author and personal preference. And often history leaves out important people in the naming process. For example, physicists work with "Maxwell's Equations" of electromagnetism, despite the fact that they're actually working with Heaviside's equations who formulated the modern form, given that Maxwell used quaternions. $\endgroup$
    – zephyr
    Commented Jun 1, 2021 at 19:08

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3
$\begingroup$

Well, to quote wikipedia, it's a matter of personal and historical perspective whom to credit (most):

Depending on geographical or historical preferences, the set of the four scientists – Alexander Friedmann, Georges Lemaître, Howard P. Robertson and Arthur Geoffrey Walker – are customarily grouped as Friedmann or Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) or Robertson–Walker (RW) or Friedmann–Lemaître (FL).(...) The FLRW model was developed independently by the named authors in the 1920s and 1930s

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .