API: Invented or discovered?

* Discovery is made by providing observational evidence and attempts to develop an initial, rough understanding of some phenomenon
* To invent is to plan and produce something to meet specific purpose
* Invention does not necessarily involve exploration, whereas discovery necessarily involves exploration

Digital camera technology was discovered. Discuss

Note: Scientists tend to speak of scientific discovery, non-scientists tend to speak of scientific inventions.

For me science is discovery, technology is an application of the science and where the invention occurs.

@ Paolo

Well according to various sources, in the English language:
• Discoveries apply to those that have been long existent, while inventions, to those that have never existed in the past.
• Discovery is made by providing observational evidence and attempts to develop an initial, rough understanding of some phenomenon
• To invent is to plan and produce something to meet specific purpose
• Invention does not necessarily involve exploration, whereas discovery necessarily involves exploration

I hope you mean these four to be, not necessarily exclusive, alternatives. Certainly, your example of a Mathematical function can’t be provided with observational evidence and isn’t related to a phenomenon (2nd clause).

The nearest meanings in your list are 1 and 4 for this discussion, but, even so, are too restrictive. Assuming Mathematical entities, e.g. Riemannian Geometry, 100-dimensional topological spaces or transfinite arithmetic, are not invented, then their discovery is a discovery of the mind, not the senses.

@ David R. Lane

I hope you mean these four to be, not necessarily exclusive, alternatives.

The 4 definitions above are a) not mine and b) taken from various sources. The reason to mention them is solely to provide at least a base/a starting point/a common ground of definition to avoid typical language’s inducted confusion as for example the meaning of the term “Project” which in the English language can identify the entirety of a product (from its idea till the finished production) while the original Latin term (from where the English term is derived from) as a different meaning (in the specifics Project is used to identify the idea and the study documents that may lead to the creation of a product).

So, in short, let’s agree on the meaning of the words Discovery and Invention (and if you would like to improve or change the aforementioned descriptions then please feel free as long as you provide a clear description of the two word’s meaning).

The nearest meanings in your list are 1 and 4 for this discussion, but, even so, are too restrictive. Assuming Mathematical entities, e.g. Riemannian Geometry, 100-dimensional topological spaces or transfinite arithmetic, are not invented, then their discovery is a discovery of the mind, not the senses.

Absolutely (and my extension to mathematics clearly specified that would change towards discovery). For instance I mentioned the term properties of a function, such properties are actually pre-existing and usually are observed. For instance, lets take a simple example: a * 0 = 0 (probably the simplest example to make it clear for the majority of the readers here).

Now, we do not invent that a * 0 = 0, we instead study it and demonstrate (eventually) why it is so. That could be considered as a “property” of a function. My English may not be good enough, in which case I may have caused confusion (and if so apologies). However the demonstration of the above could be considered an observational evidence. I would agree with you that in such a circumstance the term phenomenon may be not appropriate, however we could concede the use of the term “phenomenon” as for the phenomenon of why a number multiplied for 0 is always zero (which may be seen as a peculiar phenomenon given that it’s a different behaviour of every other form), but again it may be a non proper use of the English language.

Now, for the comparison to the original API example we could use (again the extreme simplification here is for readability of the majority as I personally do not like to exclude people from a conversation, just my way of being) f(x)

Whatever f(x) may represent it will always have intrinsic properties that would be discoverable by observing f(x) behaviour, while (in the other hand) f(x) could be entirely a human fabrication that had not “long existent”, however in such a case we should provide a plan of production of such a thing.

Hope this helps to clarify my comment

Beware. The map is not the terratory. This may help mere mathematicians…

http://jcgl.orpheusweb.co.uk/HowLongIsAPhoton.pdf

:-)

Jim