List of scientific laws named after people


This is a list of scientific laws named after people. For other lists of eponyms, see eponym.
LawFieldPerson Named After
Abel's theoremCalculusNiels Henrik Abel
Amdahl's lawComputer scienceGene Amdahl
Ampère's circuital lawPhysicsAndré-Marie Ampère
Archie's lawGeologyGus Archie
Archimedes's principle
Axiom of Archimedes
Physics
Analysis
Archimedes
Arrhenius equationChemical kineticsSvante Arrhenius
Avogadro's lawThermodynamicsAmedeo Avogadro
Bell's theoremQuantum mechanicsJohn Stewart Bell
Benford's lawMathematicsFrank Benford
Beer–Lambert lawOpticsAugust Beer, Johann Heinrich Lambert
Bernoulli's principle
Bernoulli's equation
Physical sciencesDaniel Bernoulli
Biot–Savart lawElectromagnetics, fluid dynamicsJean Baptiste Biot and Félix Savart
Birch's lawGeophysicsFrancis Birch
Bogoliubov–Born–Green–Kirkwood–Yvon hierarchyPhysicsNikolay Bogoliubov, Max Born, Herbert Green, John Kirkwood, and J. Yvon
Bogoliubov transformationQuantum mechanicsNikolay Bogoliubov
Boltzmann equationThermodynamicsLudwig Boltzmann
Born's lawQuantum mechanicsMax Born
Boyle's lawThermodynamicsRobert Boyle
Bragg's LawPhysicsWilliam Lawrence Bragg, William Henry Bragg
Bradford's lawComputer scienceSamuel C. Bradford
Bruun RuleEarth sciencePer Bruun
Buys Ballot's lawMeteorologyC.H.D. Buys Ballot
Byerlee's lawGeophysicsJames Byerlee
Carnot's theoremThermodynamicsNicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
Cauchy's integral formula
Cauchy–Riemann equations
See also: List of things named after Augustin-Louis Cauchy
Complex analysisAugustin Louis Cauchy
Augustin Louis Cauchy and Bernhard Riemann
Cayley–Hamilton theoremLinear algebraArthur Cayley and William Hamilton
Charles's lawThermodynamicsJacques Charles
Chandrasekhar limitAstrophysicsSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Church–Turing thesisComputer scienceAlonzo Church and Alan Turing
Coulomb's lawPhysicsCharles Augustin de Coulomb
Law of Charles and Gay-Lussac ThermodynamicsJacques Charles and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
Clifford's theorem
Clifford's circle theorems
Algebraic geometry, GeometryWilliam Kingdon Clifford
Curie's lawPhysicsPierre Curie
Curie–Weiss lawPhysicsPierre Curie and Pierre-Ernest Weiss
D'Alembert's paradox
D'Alembert's principle
Fluid dynamics, PhysicsJean le Rond d'Alembert
Dalton's law of partial pressureThermodynamicsJohn Dalton
Darcy's lawFluid mechanicsHenry Darcy
De Bruijn–Erdős theoremMathematicsNicolaas Govert de Bruijn and Paul Erdős
De Morgan's lawLogicAugustus De Morgan
Dermott's lawCelestial mechanicsStanley Dermott
Descartes's theoremGeometryRené Descartes
Dirac equation
Dirac delta function
Dirac comb
Dirac spinor
Dirac operator
See also: List of things named after Paul Dirac
Mathematics, PhysicsPaul Adrien Maurice Dirac
Drake equationCosmologyFrank Drake
Doppler effectPhysicsChristian Doppler
Ehrenfest's theoremQuantum mechanicsPaul Ehrenfest
Einstein's general theory of relativity
Einstein's special theory of relativity
See also: List of things named after Albert Einstein
PhysicsAlbert Einstein
Erdős–Anning theorem
See also: List of things named after Paul Erdős
MathematicsPaul Erdős and Norman H. Anning
Erdős–Beck theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and József Beck
Erdős–Gallai theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and Tibor Gallai
Erdős–Kac theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and Mark Kac
Erdős–Ko–Rado theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős, Ke Zhao, and Richard Rado
Erdős–Nagy theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy
Erdős–Rado theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and Richard Rado
Erdős–Stone theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and Arthur Harold Stone
Erdős–Szekeres theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and George Szekeres
Erdős–Szemerédi theoremMathematicsPaul Erdős and Endre Szemerédi
Euclid's theoremNumber theoryEuclid
Euler's theorem
See also: List of things named after Leonhard Euler
Number theoryLeonhard Euler
Faraday's law of induction
Faraday's law of electrolysis
Electromagnetism
Chemistry
Michael Faraday
Faxén's lawFluid dynamicsHilding Faxén
Fermat's principle
Fermat's last theorem
Fermat's little theorem
Optics
Number theory
Number theory
Pierre de Fermat
Fermi paradox
Fermi's golden rule
Fermi acceleration
Fermi hole
Fermionic field
Fermi level
See also: List of things named after Enrico Fermi
Cosmology, PhysicsEnrico Fermi
Fick's law of diffusionThermodynamicsAdolf Fick
Fitts's lawErgonomicsPaul Fitts
Fourier's lawThermodynamicsJean Baptiste Joseph Fourier
Gauss's law
Gauss's law for magnetism
Gauss's principle of least constraint
Gauss's digamma theorem
Gauss's hypergeometric theorem
Gaussian function
See also: List of things named after Carl Friedrich Gauss
Mathematics, PhysicsJohann Carl Friedrich Gauss
Gay-Lussac's lawChemistryJoseph Louis Gay-Lussac
Gibbs–Helmholtz equationThermodynamicsJosiah Willard Gibbs, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz
Gödel's incompleteness theoremsMathematicsKurt Gödel
Graham's lawThermodynamicsThomas Graham
Green's lawFluid dynamicsGeorge Green
Grimm's lawLinguisticsJacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Gustafson's lawComputer scienceJohn L. Gustafson
Heisenberg's uncertainty principleTheoretical physicsWerner Heisenberg
Heaps' lawLInguisticsHarold Stanley Heaps
Hellmann–Feynman theoremPhysicsHans Hellmann, Richard Feynman
Henry's lawThermodynamicsWilliam Henry
Hertz observationsElectromagnetismHeinrich Hertz
Hess's lawThermodynamicsGermain Henri Hess
Hilbert's basis theorem
Hilbert's axioms
Hilbert function
Hilbert's irreducibility theorem
Hilbert's syzygy theorem
Hilbert's Theorem 90
Hilbert's theorem
MathematicsDavid Hilbert
Hohenberg–Kohn theoremQuantum mechanicsPierre Hohenberg and Walter Kohn
Helmholtz's theorems
Helmholtz theorem
Helmholtz free energy
Helmholtz decomposition
Helmholtz equation
Helmholtz resonance
Thermodynamics
Physics
Hermann von Helmholtz
Hooke's lawPhysicsRobert Hooke
Hopkinson's lawElectromagnetismJohn Hopkinson
Hubble's lawCosmologyEdwin Hubble
Hund's rulesAtomic physicsFriedrich Hund
Huygens–Fresnel principleOpticsChristiaan Huygens and Augustin-Jean Fresnel
Joule's lawsPhysicsJames Joule
Jurin's lawPhysicsJames Jurin
Kasha's rulePhotochemistryMichael Kasha
Kepler's laws of planetary motionAstrophysicsJohannes Kepler
Kirchhoff's lawsElectronics, thermodynamicsGustav Kirchhoff
Kopp's lawThermodynamicsHermann Franz Moritz Kopp
Lagrangian point
Lagrange reversion theorem
Lagrange polynomial
Lagrange's four-square theorem
Lagrange's theorem
Lagrange's theorem
Lagrange invariant
Lagrange multiplier
See also: List of things named after Joseph-Louis Lagrange
Mathematics, AstrophysicsJoseph-Louis Lagrange
Lambert's cosine lawPhysicsJohann Heinrich Lambert
Lamm equationChemistry, BiophysicsOle Lamm
Langmuir equationSurface ChemistryIrving Langmuir
Laplace transform
Laplace's equation
Laplace operator
Laplace distribution
Laplace invariant
Laplace expansion
Laplace principle
Laplace limit
See also: List of things named after Pierre-Simon Laplace
Mathematics
Physics
Probability Theory
Statistical mechanics
Pierre-Simon Laplace
Le Chatelier's principleChemistryHenri Louis le Chatelier
Leibniz's lawOntologyGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Lenz's lawPhysicsHeinrich Lenz
Leonard–Merritt mass estimatorAstrophysicsPeter Leonard, David Merritt
l'Hôpital's ruleMathematicsGuillaume de l'Hôpital
Llinás's lawNeuroscienceRodolfo Llinás
Mach principle
Mach reflection
PhysicsErnst Mach
Marconi's lawRadio technologyGuglielmo Marconi
Markovnikov's ruleOrganic chemistryVladimir Markovnikov
Maupertuis's principleMathematicsPierre Louis Maupertuis
Maxwell's equations
Maxwell relations
Electrodynamics
Thermodynamics
James Clerk Maxwell
Mendelian inheritance/Mendel's lawsGeneticsGregor Mendel
Metcalfe's lawNetwork theoryRobert Metcalfe
Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effectParticle physicsStanislav Mikheyev, Alexei Smirnov, and Lincoln Wolfenstein
Milner–Rado paradoxMathematical logicEric Charles Milner and Richard Rado
Minkowski's theoremNumber theoryHermann Minkowski
Mitscherlich's lawCrystallography
Condensed matter physics
Eilhard Mitscherlich
Moore's lawComputingGordon Moore
Nash embedding theorem
Nash equilibrium
Topology
Game Theory
John Forbes Nash
Nernst equationElectrochemistryWalther Nernst
Newton's law of cooling
Newton's law of universal gravitation
Newton's laws of motion
See also: List of things named after Isaac Newton
Thermodynamics
Astrophysics
Mechanics
Isaac Newton
Niven's theoremMathematicsIvan Niven
Noether's theoremTheoretical physicsEmmy Noether
Nyquist–Shannon sampling theoremInformation theoryHarry Nyquist, Claude Elwood Shannon
Occam's razorPhilosophy of scienceWilliam of Ockham
Ohm's lawElectronicsGeorg Ohm
Osipkov–Merritt modelAstrophysicsLeonid Osipkov, David Merritt
Ostwald dilution lawPhysical chemistryWilhelm Ostwald
Paley–Wiener theoremMathematicsRaymond Paley and Norbert Wiener
Pareto distribution
Pareto efficiency
Pareto index
Pareto principle
EconomicsVilfredo Pareto
Pascal's law
Pascal's theorem
Physics
Geometry
Blaise Pascal
Pauli exclusion principleQuantum mechanicsWolfgang Pauli
Peano axiomsFoundational mathematicsGiuseppe Peano
Planck's lawElectromagnetismMax Planck
Poincaré–Bendixson theoremMathematicsHenri Poincaré and Ivar Otto Bendixson
Poincaré–Birkhoff–Witt theoremMathematicsHenri Poincaré, George David Birkhoff, and Ernst Witt
Poincaré–Hopf theoremMathematicsHenri Poincaré and Heinz Hopf
Poincaré recurrence theorem
Poincaré conjecture
Poincaré lemma
See also: List of things named after Henri Poincaré
MathematicsHenri Poincaré
Poiseuille's lawFluidicsJean Léonard Marie Poiseuille
Poisson distribution
Poisson's equation
See also: List of things named after Siméon Denis Poisson
Statistics
Calculus
Siméon Denis Poisson
Price's theoremNatural selectionGeorge R. Price
Ptolemy's theoremGeometryPtolemy
Pythagorean theoremGeometryPythagoras
Raman scatteringPhysicsSir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman
Rado's theoremDiscrete mathematicsRichard Rado
Ramanujan–Nagell equation
See also: List of things named after Srinivasa Ramanujan
MathematicsSrinivasa Ramanujan and Trygve Nagell
Raoult's lawPhysical chemistryFrançois-Marie Raoult
Riemann zeta function
Riemann hypothesis
Riemann integral
Riemann lemma
Riemannian manifold
Riemann sphere
Riemann theta function
See also: List of things named after Bernhard Riemann
Number theory, analysis, geometryBernhard Riemann
Rolle's theoremDifferential calculusMichel Rolle
Saha ionization equationPlasma physicsMeghnad Saha
Schrödinger equationPhysicsErwin Schrödinger
Sérsic's lawAstrophysicsJ. L. Sérsic
Snell's lawOpticsWillebrord van Roijen Snell
Sokolov–Ternov effectParticle PhysicsArsenij Sokolov and Igor Ternov
Sommerfeld–Kossel displacement lawSpectroscopyArnold Sommerfeld and Walther Kossel
Stefan–Boltzmann lawThermodynamicsJožef Stefan and Ludwig Boltzmann
Stokes's lawFluid mechanicsGeorge Gabriel Stokes
Stoletov's lawPhotoelectric effectAleksandr Stoletov
Tarski's undefinability theorem
Tarski's axioms
See also: List of things named after Alfred Tarski
Mathematical logic, GeometryAlfred Tarski
Thales's theoremGeometryThales
Titius–Bode lawAstrophysicsJohann Daniel Titius and Johann Elert Bode
Torricelli's lawPhysicsEvangelista Torricelli
Umov effectPhysicsNikolay Umov
Van der Waals equationChemistryJohannes Diderik van der Waals
Vlasov equationPlasma physicsAnatoly Vlasov
Von Neumann bicommutant theorem
Von Neumann entropy
von Neumann paradox
Von Neumann ergodic theorem
Von Neumann universe
Von Neumann neighborhood
Von Neumann's trace inequality
See also: List of things named after John von Neumann
Mathematics, Quantum mechanicsJohn von Neumann
Weinberg–Witten theoremQuantum GravitySteven Weinberg and Edward Witten
Weyl character formula
See also: List of things named after Hermann Weyl
MathematicsHermann Weyl
Wien's lawPhysicsWilhelm Wien
Wiener–Khinchin theoremMathematicsNorbert Wiener and Aleksandr Khinchin
Young–Laplace equationFluid dynamicsThomas Young and Pierre-Simon Laplace
Zipf's lawLinguisticsGeorge Kingsley Zipf