STIGLER'S LAW OF EPONYMY

STIGLER, STEPHEN M.

Stigler's Law of Eponymy.

[No place], 1980. 8vo. In the original printed wrappers. Offprint from "Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences", Series II, Volume 39, April 24, 1980. Underlignings in text, otherwise a very fresh copy. Pp. 147-57.

Scarce offprint-issue of Stigler's law which claim that no scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.

Historical acclaim for discoveries is often ascribed to person who bring attention to an idea that is not yet widely known, whether or not that person was its original inventor. Theories may be named long after their discovery. In the case of eponymy, the idea becomes named after that person, even if that person is acknowledged by historians of science not to be the one who discovered it. Often, several people will arrive at a new idea around the same time, as in the case of calculus, Higgs boson, ect.

Stigler named the sociologist Robert K. Merton as the discoverer of "Stigler's law", deliberately making "Stigler's law" exemplify itself.

Order-nr.: 47197