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OT: Why are so many mathematical objects named after some dudes and not after what they represent, i.e. in this case edit distance? Never understood this obsess

by bitL 7y ago

OT: Why are so many mathematical objects named after some dudes and not after what they represent, i.e. in this case edit distance? Never understood this obsession.

westoncb 7y ago
I think the main reason is that there is no short phrase like 'edit distance' that can be used to describe the function/structure of most mathematical objects/concepts/etc.
Cogito 7y ago
Historically, at least to my eyes, this seems to derive from how mathematics has been cited by mathematicians. Before a thing is called 'Levenshtein Distance' it will be used by someone saying 'calculating distance between these two strings the way Levenshtein did in [0]'. Eventually, when enough people do this, or someone gets particularly bold, the method will instead be given its name (occasionally, the original author will be so bold, but that seems rare). If I were looking to procrastinate more than I already am I would go find some examples of this, examples that unfortunately don't spring immediately to mind though I'm sure I remember their shadows. As to why they are not named for what they represent - it's only after the thing has been invented, tested, and named that we realise that it is the correct or best way to do a thing. Often there are multiple ways of doing things (this is Levenshteins edit distance) and so they are named to distinguish them from each other. The survivor is not renamed just because the others are forgotten. [0] not a real reference
- pandigital 7y ago
  I believe Turing Machines are an example. Turing originally called them "automatic machines" or a-machines.
Myrmornis 7y ago
I think it might be better this way, using people’s names. basically because names are fairly meaningless but easier to remember than a uuid. Otherwise we’d constantly be feeling that things were misnamed. E.g. something might have been the best edit distance algorithm twenty years ago, but there’s been a better one for 19 years but it has to have a convoluted name due to primacy of the first name.

by bitL 7y ago

OT: Why are so many mathematical objects named after some dudes and not after what they represent, i.e. in this case edit distance? Never understood this obsession.

westoncb 7y ago

I think the main reason is that there is no short phrase like 'edit distance' that can be used to describe the function/structure of most mathematical objects/concepts/etc.

Cogito 7y ago

Historically, at least to my eyes, this seems to derive from how mathematics has been cited by mathematicians. Before a thing is called 'Levenshtein Distance' it will be used by someone saying 'calculating distance between these two strings the way Levenshtein did in [0]'. Eventually, when enough people do this, or someone gets particularly bold, the method will instead be given its name (occasionally, the original author will be so bold, but that seems rare). If I were looking to procrastinate more than I already am I would go find some examples of this, examples that unfortunately don't spring immediately to mind though I'm sure I remember their shadows. As to why they are not named for what they represent - it's only after the thing has been invented, tested, and named that we realise that it is the correct or best way to do a thing. Often there are multiple ways of doing things (this is Levenshteins edit distance) and so they are named to distinguish them from each other. The survivor is not renamed just because the others are forgotten. [0] not a real reference

pandigital 7y ago
I believe Turing Machines are an example. Turing originally called them "automatic machines" or a-machines.

Myrmornis 7y ago

I think it might be better this way, using people’s names. basically because names are fairly meaningless but easier to remember than a uuid. Otherwise we’d constantly be feeling that things were misnamed. E.g. something might have been the best edit distance algorithm twenty years ago, but there’s been a better one for 19 years but it has to have a convoluted name due to primacy of the first name.