On the origins of the idea of the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient
Usually the multiplicative decomposition of deformation gradient in finite plasticity is (incorrectly) attributed to Lee and Liu (1967). This short note discusses the origins of this idea, which go back to the late 1940s. We explain that the first explicit mention of this decomposition appeared a decade earlier in the work of Bilby, et al. (1957) and Kröner (1959). While writing this note I found out that Bruce Bilby passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 91.
