Page 271 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots
P. 271
CHAPTER 12
ON THEORIES OF KNOTS
John Turner
"'And everybody praised the Duke,
Who this great fight did win.'
`But what good came of it at last?'
Quoth little Peterkin.
`Why, that I cannot tell,' said he,
`But 'twas a famous victory!'" "
[On G. T. Fechner turning psychology into
an exact science; quoted in The World of
Mathematics, J. R. Newman, p. 1165.]
1. Is Knot Theory Topology?
The earliest scientific paper we know in which a mathematician discusses the
problem of constructing a mathematical theory of knots, contains the following
paragraph:
Whatever the twists and turns of a system of threads in space,
one can always obtain an expression for the calculation of its
dimensions, but this expression will be of little use in practice.
The craftsman who fashions a braid, a net, or some knots will be
concerned, not with questions of measurement, but with those of
position: what he sees there is the manner in which the threads
are interlaced.
Alexandre Theophile Vandermonde (1735-1796)
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