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Why is a Taylor polynomial centered around $0$ called a Maclaurin polynomial? It's only a special case of the Taylor polynomial, and it is calculated the exact same way as a Taylor polynomial centered at any number. It doesn't seem to carry the same weight as other named concepts such as Euler's number, which has special properties when you differentiate, integrate, etc.

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    I might be wrong, but from (very old) memory, didn't Maclaurin discover his series expansion first (so it was known as the Maclaurin expansion from then on) and then at a later date, Taylor came along and discovered a more general version ... called the Taylor expansion?2012-07-18
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    @Nick: have you read Maclaurin's Wikipedia article?2012-07-18
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    @Old John: this does not seem to have been what happened. See Maclaurin's Wikipedia article.2012-07-18
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    Good grief - it WAS the other way round. How amazing.2012-07-18
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    Ah, didn't think to check his biography as well. That still doesn't explain why a *special case* is named after him. It wasn't a new discovery or anything, it was just a specific case of something already discovered that helped him figure out other things.2012-07-18
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    And Taylor series were used in Kerala by the fourteenth century. But who said the European namers of things have to be fair?2012-07-19
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    The Madhava (माधव) series, maybe? Perhaps in future they will be known as the Apple (maybe Samsung) series (with appropriate trademarks, etc.)?2012-07-19

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