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Euler, Leonhard

(Encyclopedia)Euler, Leonhard lāˈônhärt oiˈlər [key], 1707–83, Swiss mathematician. Born and educated at Basel, where he knew the Bernoullis, he went to St. Petersburg (1727) at the invitation of Catherine ...

Kepler, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Kepler, Johannes yōhäˈnəs kĕpˈlər [key], 1571–1630, German astronomer. From his student days at the Univ. of Tübingen, he was influenced by the Copernican teachings. From 1593 to 1598 he was...

Shapley, Lloyd Stowell

(Encyclopedia)Shapley, Lloyd Stowell shăpˈlē [key], 1923–2016, American mathematician and economist, b. Cambridge, Mass., Ph.D Princeton, 1953; son of Harlow Shapley. He worked at the RAND Corp. from 1954 to 1...

Darboux, Jean Gaston

(Encyclopedia)Darboux, Jean Gaston zhäN gästôNˈ därbo͞oˈ [key], 1842–1917, French mathematician. He is known for his work on orthogonal surfaces and for his application of infinitesimal calculus to geometr...

Cournot, Antoine Augustin

(Encyclopedia)Cournot, Antoine Augustin äNtwänˈ ōgüstăNˈ ko͞ornōˈ [key], 1801–77, French mathematician and economist. He developed mathematical theories of chance and probability and was one of the firs...

Clairaut, Alexis Claude

(Encyclopedia)Clairaut, Alexis Claude älĕksĕsˈ klōd klĕrōˈ [key], 1713–65, French mathematician. He assisted P. L. M. de Maupertuis in measuring (1736) a degree of an arc of a meridian in Lapland. He is n...

Green, George

(Encyclopedia)Green, George, 1793–1841, English mathematician and physicist. He was largely self-taught until, in 1833, he entered Caius College, Cambridge. In addition to making a number of contributions to the ...

Borel, Félix Édouard Émile

(Encyclopedia)Borel, Félix Édouard Émile fālēksˈ ādwärˈ āmēlˈ bôrĕlˈ [key], 1871–1956, French mathematician. He is noted for his work in infinitesimal calculus and the calculus of probabilities. He...

Boscovich, Ruggiero Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Boscovich, Ruggiero Giuseppe ro͞od-jāˈrō jo͞ozĕpˈpā bôsˈkōvēch [key], 1711–87, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He became a Jesuit and taught at Rome, Pavia, and Milan. ...

Snell, Willebrord

(Encyclopedia)Snell or Snellius, Willebrord vĭlˈəbrôrt snĕl, snĕlēəs [key], 1591–1626, Dutch mathematician. He is generally credited with the discovery (1621) of the law of the refraction of light. In 161...