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Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm frēdˈrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm bĕsˈəl [key], 1784–1846, German astronomer and mathematician. He became (1810) director of the new observatory at Königsberg and professor of a...

angle

(Encyclopedia)angle, in mathematics, figure formed by the intersection of two straight lines; the lines are called the sides of the angle and their point of intersection the vertex of the angle. Angles are commonly...

Shushkevich, Stanislav Stanislavovich

(Encyclopedia)Shushkevich, Stanislav Stanislavovich, Belarusian Stanislau Stanislavavich Shushkevich, 1934–, Belarusian political leader and scientist, first head of state of independent Belarus after the dissolu...

sequence

(Encyclopedia)sequence, in mathematics, ordered set of mathematical quantities called terms. A sequence is said to be known if a formula can be given for any particular term using the preceding terms or using its p...

Copernicus, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Copernicus, Nicholas kōpûrˈnĭkəs [key], Pol. Mikotaj Kopérnik, 1473–1543, Polish astronomer. After studying astronomy at the Univ. of Kraków, he spent a number of years in Italy studying vari...

analysis

(Encyclopedia)analysis, branch of mathematics that utilizes the concepts and methods of the calculus. It includes not only basic calculus, but also advanced calculus, in which such underlying concepts as that of a ...

Varèse, Edgard

(Encyclopedia)Varèse, Edgard värĕzˈ [key], 1883–1965, French-American composer. In Paris he first studied mathematics and science but became more interested in music. He then studied composition with Roussel ...

curve

(Encyclopedia)curve, in mathematics, a line no part of which is straight; more generally, it is considered to be any one-dimensional collection of points, thus including the straight line as a special kind of curve...

Haldane, John Burdon Sanderson

(Encyclopedia)Haldane, John Burdon Sanderson hôlˈdān, –dən [key], 1892–1964, British geneticist, biologist, and popularizer of science; son of John Scott Haldane. He studied at Oxford until his studies were...

function

(Encyclopedia)function, in mathematics, a relation f that assigns to each member x of some set X a corresponding member y of some set Y; y is said to be a function of x, usually denoted f(x) (read “f of x ”)....