Re: Why "harmonic"

From: Acid Pooh (poohonlsd_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 08/06/04 

Date: 6 Aug 2004 16:48:33 -0700

David C. Ullrich <ullrich@math.okstate.edu> wrote in message news:<qj07h0dr53d9nom9125k7r4sr0m52plfra@4ax.com>...
> On 5 Aug 2004 17:45:47 GMT, Bart Goddard <goddardbe@netscape.net>
> wrote:
>
> (And while I was
> >trying to concoct one, my requisite annoying student kept
> >babbling and wouldn't let me think.)

I knew it! Professors think some kids are annoying! I hope they
don't think I'm one of the annoying ones... Anyway, if you haven't
already, tell your student that this is a good question. :-)

<snip>

> >But I'd sure like to have a better answer.
>
> a harmonic function is the same thing as a steady-state
> solution to the wave equation [ie a solution with
> du/dt = 0]. surely one can imagine an etymological
> path from 'wave' to 'harmonic'...

As a supplement, iirc, Joseph Fourier's paper "Analytical Theory of
Heat" deals with finding steady-state solutions to the wave equation
via Fourier series. Another clue? It gets messy unless you have a
copy of the paper since it was wrong in many respects.

'cid 'ooh

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