It's strange how the standard American History classes pretty much ignore the late 19th century. It was a time of real intellectual flourishing in America. With the notable exception of Benjamin Franklin, it's when American scientists really became globally relevant rather than smart folks who more or less just stayed kept up with European advances. Peano cited Peirce as his inspiration for the logical notation we now use today. And Gibbs[1] was one of the fathers of modern thermodynamics.
While writing this comment I learned that Gibbs shared Peirce's interest in graphical notations. They're interesting to me, because in a lot of ways they feel clunkier than traditional mathematical formulae, but when they work, boy do they ever work well. Feynman diagrams are maybe the most well known example.
I'm pretty sure there are millions waiting to be made with a good AI powered diagrammatic IDE.
While writing this comment I learned that Gibbs shared Peirce's interest in graphical notations. They're interesting to me, because in a lot of ways they feel clunkier than traditional mathematical formulae, but when they work, boy do they ever work well. Feynman diagrams are maybe the most well known example.
I'm pretty sure there are millions waiting to be made with a good AI powered diagrammatic IDE.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Willard_Gibbs