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Mikhail_K | 5 months ago

Fast Fourier transform was not invented by Cooley-Tukey, it was used by Gauss to compute trigonometric interpolation of orbits from observations.

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ajross|5 months ago

The factorization trick was reinvented several times. The algorithm that uses it to do a frequency decomposition was presented just once by named authors. This happens all the time. Freaking out about naming and attribution isn't really very informative.

Edit: as always, Wikipedia is a better source than comment pedantry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Fourier_transform#History

Mikhail_K|5 months ago

The wikipedia article you reference confirms my point:

"Gauss wanted to interpolate the orbits from sample observations; his method was very similar to the one that would be published in 1965 by James Cooley and John Tukey, who are generally credited for the invention of the modern generic FFT algorithm."

> Freaking out about naming and attribution isn't really very informative.

It matters who gets the credit for an original idea. Cooley and Tukey are lionized as pioneers, but they are not.

srean|5 months ago

True. Before Fourier did Fourier.