Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Quetelet, Adolphe

(Encyclopedia)Quetelet, Adolphe ädôlfˈ kĕtəlāˈ [key], 1796–1874, Belgian statistician and astronomer. He was the first director (1828) of the Royal Observatory at Brussels. As supervisor of statistics for ...

Church, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Church, Sir Richard, 1784–1873, British army officer. After varied service, he organized a Greek regiment to defend (1812–15) the Ionian Islands, and in 1827 he was made generalissimo of the Greek...

Lascaris, Constantine

(Encyclopedia)Lascaris, Constantine kŏnˈstəntēn lăsˈkərĭs [key], d. 1501?, Greek grammarian. After the fall of Constantinople, Lascaris went to Italy and in Milan obtained the patronage of Francesco Sforza....

Longinus, c.213–273, Greek rhetorician and philosopher

(Encyclopedia)Longinus (Cassius Longinus), c.213–273, Greek rhetorician and philosopher of the Neoplatonic school. He taught rhetoric at Athens. He later became counselor to Queen Zenobia of Palmyra; when the ant...

Al-Battani

(Encyclopedia)Al-Battani ălˌbətēˈnēəs [key], b. before 858, d. 929, Arab astronomer and mathematician. He is best known in astronomy for his improvements and corrections of the Ptolemaic tradition. His Kitab...

Clavius, Cristoph

(Encyclopedia)Clavius, Cristoph krĭsˈtôf klāˈvēəs [key], 1537–1612, German astronomer and mathematician. He entered the Jesuit order in 1555 and studied at Coimbra and Rome. He taught mathematics at the Co...

Encke, Johann Franz

(Encyclopedia)Encke, Johann Franz yōˈhän fränts ĕngˈkə [key], 1791–1865, German astronomer. He was assistant (1816–22) and director (1822–25) of the observatory at Seeberg (near Gotha) and director (fr...

Lamont, Johann von

(Encyclopedia)Lamont, Johann von yōˈhän fən läˈmônt [key], 1805–79, Scottish-German astronomer and magnetician, b. Scotland. In 1817 he went to Ratisbon to study at the seminary. He remained in Germany to ...

Bhaskara

(Encyclopedia)Bhaskara əchärˈyə [key] [Skt.,=learned], b. 1114, Indian mathematician and astronomer. According to the custom, he put his learned treatises into verse, adding, however, explanations in prose. His...

Sitter, Willem de

(Encyclopedia)Sitter, Willem de vĭlˈəm də sĭtˈər [key], 1872–1934, Dutch astronomer and mathematician. He was professor from 1908 at the Univ. of Leiden and in 1919 became director of its observatory. His ...