<p>Well, to quote <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedmann%E2%80%93Lema%C3%AEtre%E2%80%93Robertson%E2%80%93Walker_metric" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia</a>, it's a matter of personal and historical perspective whom to credit (most):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Depending on geographical or historical preferences, the set of the
four scientists – Alexander Friedmann, Georges Lemaître, Howard P.
Robertson and Arthur Geoffrey Walker – are customarily grouped as
Friedmann or Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) or Robertson–Walker (RW)
or Friedmann–Lemaître (FL).(...) The FLRW model was developed
independently by the named authors in the 1920s and 1930s</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-31T05:58:23.380Z
2021-05-31T05:58:23.380Z
planetmaker
<p>Why is the letter L for Georges LeMaîtres often, or even usually, left out?</p>
<p>Does he, or does he not, deserve some credit for this cosmological solution to Einstein's general relativity?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-31T09:18:54.660Z
He derived the Hubble law two years before Hubble verified it observationally, and proposed a "beginning of time". I think he deserves some credit.
pela
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-31T13:45:51.793Z
There are countless examples in physics (and science generally) of names not properly reflecting the people who independently or even in collaboration developed the concept, even if they're names are on e.g. the relevant paper(s).  Human desire for short names seems to mean some people are kind of robbed of credit they're due.
StephenG - Help Ukraine
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-01T19:08:20.497Z
This question could be asked of almost any solution or equation or model in science. Almost every equation, etc. has many contributors and the name of said equation, etc. often picks the most important contributors to name it after. However, which names are used can vary by author and personal preference. And often history leaves out important people in the naming process. For example, physicists work with "Maxwell's Equations" of electromagnetism, despite the fact that they're actually working with Heaviside's equations who formulated the modern form, given that Maxwell used quaternions.
zephyr
<cosmology><history><space-time><general-relativity>
Why is the FLRW universe (general relativity solution(s)) sometimes called the 'FRW universe'?
Kurt Hikes
# Why is the FLRW universe (general relativity solution(s)) sometimes called the 'FRW universe'?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-05-31)

Why is the letter L for Georges LeMaîtres often, or even usually, left out?

Does he, or does he not, deserve some credit for this cosmological solution to Einstein's general relativity?

**Tags:** cosmology, history, space-time, general-relativity

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: He derived the Hubble law two years before Hubble verified it observationally, and proposed a "beginning of time". I think he deserves some credit.  
> **username_2**: There are countless examples in physics (and science generally) of names not properly reflecting the people who independently or even in collaboration developed the concept, even if they're names are on e.g. the relevant paper(s).  Human desire for short names seems to mean some people are kind of robbed of credit they're due.  
> **username_3**: This question could be asked of almost any solution or equation or model in science. Almost every equation, etc. has many contributors and the name of said equation, etc. often picks the most important contributors to name it after. However, which names are used can vary by author and personal preference. And often history leaves out important people in the naming process. For example, physicists work with "Maxwell's Equations" of electromagnetism, despite the fact that they're actually working with Heaviside's equations who formulated the modern form, given that Maxwell used quaternions.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2021-05-31. Score: 3

Well, to quote [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedmann%E2%80%93Lema%C3%AEtre%E2%80%93Robertson%E2%80%93Walker_metric), it's a matter of personal and historical perspective whom to credit (most):

> Depending on geographical or historical preferences, the set of the
> four scientists – Alexander Friedmann, Georges Lemaître, Howard P.
> Robertson and Arthur Geoffrey Walker – are customarily grouped as
> Friedmann or Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) or Robertson–Walker (RW)
> or Friedmann–Lemaître (FL).(...) The FLRW model was developed
> independently by the named authors in the 1920s and 1930s


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