Abstract
VOLTERRA'S fundamental ideas have enriched many branches of mathematics. Most of these ideas can be traced back to his earliest papers, and originated in attempts to solve physical and mechanical problems. Though his books, and especially their titles, might suggest that he was primarily a pure mathematician, his thoughts never ceased to be active with problems of the actual world; he was not content with having devised elegant solutions of problems of applied mathematics, until the result had been tested by measurements on models or observations of the natural phenomena concerned. In his work on elasticity, for example, he made many clever experiments on rubber models, and his pupils or colleagues supplemented these experiments by others in which they used the double refraction method to measure internal strain. Again, in discussing heat flow in the earth, he applied his calculations to the St. Gothard tunnel, and pointed out the practical importance of the theory in tunnel boring. A paper he wrote on the Hall effect was followed by similar observations to test the influence of a magnetic field on the resistance of a metal plate.
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CHAPMAN, S. Prof. Vito Volterra, For.Mem.R.S. Nature 147, 350 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147350a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147350a0