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Some historical notes on the Stefan problem. (English) Zbl 0801.35002

In this short note on the history of the problem of Stefan, the author includes a short description of Josep Stefan’s (1835-1893) life and work, a summary of his research on ice formation, and some comparisons with measurements.
The core of the paper is Section 3, where the author shows that the measurements were done during polar expeditions aimed at the discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, between the years 1831 and 1854. In his paper on ice formation in the polar seas (1889, reprinted 1891), Stefan uses these physical results.

MSC:

35-03 History of partial differential equations
01A55 History of mathematics in the 19th century
80A22 Stefan problems, phase changes, etc.
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