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A Short History of Mathematical Function Tables

AShortHistoryofMathematicalFunctionTables

Inthe18thand19thcenturies,scientistsdiscoveredthattheelementaryfunctions powers,roots,trigonometricfunctionsandtheirinverseshadtheirlimitations.They foundthatsolutionsforsomeimportantphysicalproblemsliketheorbitalmotionof planets,theoscillatorymotionofsuspendedchains,andthecalculationofthe gravitationalpotentialofnearlysphericalbodiescouldnotalwaysbedescribedina closedformusingonlyelementaryfunctions.Evenintherealmofpure mathematics,somequantitiessuchasthecircumferenceofanellipsewerealso impossibletodiscussinsuchterms.Functionsdescribingsolutionstotheseproblems wereoftenexpressedasinfiniteseries,asintegrals,orassolutionstodifferential equations. Onfurtherinvestigation,scientistsnotedthatarelativelysmallnumberofthese specialfunctionsturnedupoverandoveragainindifferentcontexts.What'smore, theynotedthatmanyotherproblemscouldbesolvedintheformofacomparatively simplecombinationofthesenewerfunctionswiththeelementaryfunctionsknownto theancients.Functionsthatcroppedupmostfrequentlyinscientificcalculations weregivennamesandnotationswhichhavecomeintocommonusage:Bessel functions,Struvefunctions,Mathieufunctions,thesphericalharmonics,theGamma function,theBetafunction,Jacobifunctions,andmostoftheothersappearingon thiswebsite. Inthesecondhalfofthe19thcenturymathematiciansalsostartedtoinvestigate thesespecialfunctionsfromapurelytheoreticalperspective.Alternative representationsasdifferentialequations,series,integrals,continuedfractions,or otherformswerefoundformany.Importantpublicationsonthetopicattheturnof thecenturyincludethefourvolumemasterpieceontheellipticfunctionsbyJ. TanneryandJ.Molk(published18931902),containinghundredsofpagesof collectedformulasI.Todhunter'streatiseonLaplace,LamandBesselfunctions (1875)E.Heine'streatiseonsphericalharmonics(1881)andA.Wangerin'sworkon thesametopic(1904). Largetableswithnumericalvaluesforthespecialfunctionsalsobegantoappear, alongwiththreedimensional"graphs"madeofwoodorplastermasterpiecesof precisionsculptingshowingthebehavioroffunctionssuchasPandtheJacobi functions.Manyofthesemodelsarestillondisplayinmathdepartmentsthroughout theworld,andthegraphicsonthiswebsitecanbethoughtofastheirmodern, computerdrawncounterparts. CharlesBabbage,whodesignedbutwasunabletobuildthe"differenceengine," plannedaprintingdeviceallowingthemachinetogeneratelargetables automatically.ASwedishpublishernamedGeorgScheutzandhissonEdvardlater builtadifferenceenginethatcouldsettype.In1857,theScheutzesproduceda mechanicallygeneratedtableofcommonlogarithmstofivedecimalplacesforthe integersfrom1to10,000eachvaluetookaboutthirtysecondstocalculate. FunktionentafelnmitFormelnundKurven,thefirstmodernhandbookofspecial functionsthatis,onecontaininggraphs,formulas,andnumericaltableswas publishedin1909byEugeneJahnkeandFritzEmde.Thefirsttextdealing comprehensivelywithmostofthenamedspecialfunctionswasE.T.Whittakerand

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comprehensivelywithmostofthenamedspecialfunctionswasE.T.Whittakerand G.N.Watson's ACourseofModernAnalysis,2ndEdition(1915).Thispopulartext consistedoftwopartsPartIisatextbookofcomplexanalysis,whilePartIIisa handbookofspecialfunctions. In1939,orthogonalpolynomialsweregiventheirfirstdetailedtreatmentbyGbor Szeg.Thisworkwasfollowedin1943byWilhelmMagnusandFritzOberhettinger's FormelnundLehrstzefrdiespeziellenFunktionenderMathematischenPhysik,the mostcompletecollectionofformulasinvolvingspecialfunctionsyetprepared. ThemassiveBatemanManuscriptProjecttheeditingforposthumouspublicationof HarryBateman'saccumulatednotesonspecialfunctions,whichhestoredinshoe boxeswascarriedoutbyArthurErdlyi,WilhelmMagnus,FritzOberhettinger,and FrancescoTricomi,culminatingin1953withtheclassicthreevolumework Higher TranscendentalFunctions.Thismonumentalcollectioncontainsnotonlyformulas, butalsoderivations,proofs,andhistoricalremarks.(Alongwiththecontentsof HigherTranscendentalFunctions,Bateman'sshoeboxesheldenoughmaterialfora twovolumesetofintegraltransformtables.) In HigherTranscendentalFunctions,Erdlyiintroducedanewemphasisonthe importanceofhypergeometricfunctionsasanunderlying,unifyingbasisforthe developmentofmanyofthecategoriesofspecialfunctions.Although 2F1hadbeen extensivelystudiedsincethetimeofGauss,mathematicianswereslowto appreciatetheimportanceofthegeneralizedhypergeometric pFqandtorecognize themanyrelationsbetweenhypergeometricfunctionsandthespecialfunctions encounteredmostfrequently.Anotherinnovationin HigherTranscendentalFunctions wastheinclusionofnumbertheoreticalfunctions. Paralleltothehandbooksdealingwithseriesexpansions,differentialequations, functionalidentities,andsoforthofspecialfunctions,manyintegraltableswere developedinthe20thcentury.Amongthese,especiallythetablesofW.Grbner,N. Hofreiter,A.Erdelyi,W.Magnus,F.Oberhettinger,I.S.Gradshteyn,I.H.Ryshik,H. Exton,H.M.Srivastava,A.P.Prudnikov,Ya.A.Brychkov,andO.I.Marichevare noteworthy. Applicationoftheelectroniccomputerresultedinmanymassivevolumescontaining hundredsofpagesoftablesforBesselfunctions,ellipticintegrals,Legendre functions,andsoon.Animportanthandbookcontaininggraphs,formulas,and computegeneratednumericaldatawasassembledbyMiltonAbramowitzandIrene Stegun.Thisworkwaspublishedin1964bytheNationalBureauofStandardsasthe HandbookofMathematicalFunctionswithFormulas,Graphs,andMathematical Tables.Individualchapterswerecompiledbyvariousauthors,leadingtoacertain unevennessinthequalityofthematerialanditspresentation.Nevertheless,the HandbookofMathematicalFunctionsremainsastandardreferenceandisstillin widespreaduse. Ironically,thecomputer,thatledtothecreationofsuchmammothnumerictablesis noweliminatingtheneedforthem.Thereadyavailabilityofcomputerprocessing timeandtechnicalsoftwarenowallowstechnicaluserstocalculatethevaluesofany neededfunctionwithoutrecoursetoreferenceworks. Mathematicacancalculate everyspecialfunctiononthiswebsitetoanydesiredprecisionforanyrealor complexvaluesoftheargumentsandparameters.Additionally, Mathematicacan symbolicallyandnumericallycalculatevaluesforintegralsorotheroperationsand transformationsinvolvingthesefunctions,providingfarmoreinformationthanany singlehandbookcouldpossiblytabulate. Therebytheneedforanevenmorecomprehensivecollectionofspecialfunctions persists.AndtheWolframFunctionsSiteisthemostcompletesuchresourcetoday. Withtensofthousandsofidentities,someextendingovermultiplepagesifprinted. Thewebsiteisvirtuallyarbitrarilyextensibleandnotboundtothelimitationsofa printedbook.Updatingiseasy,sonewinformationcanbequicklyincorporatedinto thewebsite.

A Short History of Mathematical Function Tables

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