Of course they named the concept after him. If his name had been John Henry Schlabotnik, then it would be called the "Schlabotnik vector". The irony of "Poynting vector" is that it is actually a kind of "pointing vector"! Edit: ... and it is somewhat nominatively deterministic, because it is predicated on a name.
Having things named after you isn't nominative determinism.
But vectors do point and they did before Poynting got the Poynting vector named after him.
Of course they named the concept after him. If his name had been John Henry Schlabotnik, then it would be called the "Schlabotnik vector".
The irony of "Poynting vector" is that it is actually a kind of "pointing vector"!
Edit: ... and it is somewhat nominatively deterministic, because it is predicated on a name.
yeah, they all do.