Math with Bad DrawingsCartoon Archive

Bernoulli Discovers e

February 5, 2018Original blog post

Jacob Bernoulli discovers the constant 2.718…, and Leonhard Euler immediately 'discovers' it too, then names it e. A joke about who gets credit (and naming rights) in math history.

Transcript

[1] Jacob Bernoulli (holding "2.718281828459…"): "I've discovered an important constant!" Leonhard Euler ("historically documented hat"): "Ooh! Now *I've* discovered an important constant!"

[2] Bernoulli: "That's not what 'discover' means." Euler: "Dude, this is my big moment. Don't you want me to be happy?"

[3] Bernoulli: "Yes, but…" Euler: "We'll call it… e." Bernoulli: "*sigh* I need a lawyer."

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Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2018-02-05-bernoulli-discovers-e/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Topics
Number & Arithmetic › Irrational Numbers › eMath Culture › History of MathMathematicians & Scientists › Leonhard Euler
Level
High SchoolCalculusCollege
Themes
MathematiciansMath Culture
People
Jacob Bernoulli Leonhard Euler