A Mathematical Method for Analyzing the Growth of a Scientific Discipline

1 April 1971

journal article
Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in Journal of the ACM

Vol. 18 (2) , 173-185
https://doi.org/10.1145/321637.321640

Abstract

The spread of ideas within a scientific community and the spread of infectious disease are both special cases of a general communication process. Thus a general theory of epidemics can explain the growth of symbolic logic from 1847 to 1962. An epidemic model predicts the rise and fall of particular research areas within symbolic logic. A Markov chain model of individual movement between research areas indicates that once an individual leaves an area he is not expected to return.

Keywords

EPIDEMIC PROCESS
MATHEMATICAL METHOD
MARKOV CHAINS
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SYMBOLIC LOGIC
EPIDEMIC MODEL
EPIDEMIC CURVE
HISTORY OF SYMBOLIC LOGIC
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE
THEORY OF EPIDEMICS
STOCHASTIC MODELS
GROWTH OF LITERATURE

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:

Mathematical Approach to the Spread of Scientific Ideas—the History of Mast Cell Research
Nature, 1966
A Bibliography of Symbolic Logic
The Journal of Symbolic Logic, 1936