Mathematics, ABA-BIN

Mathematics is a science of structure, order, and relation that deals with logical reasoning and quantitative calculation. The history of mathematics can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia; ancient clay tablets have proven that the level of mathematical competence was already high as early as roughly the 18th century BCE. Over the centuries, mathematics has evolved from elemental practices of counting, measuring, and describing the shapes of objects into a crucial adjunct to the physical sciences and technology.
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Mathematics Encyclopedia Articles By Title

abacus
abacus, calculating device, probably of Babylonian origin, that was long important in commerce. It is the ancestor......
Abel Prize
Abel Prize, award granted annually for research in mathematics, in commemoration of the brilliant 19th-century......
Abel, Niels Henrik
Niels Henrik Abel was a Norwegian mathematician, a pioneer in the development of several branches of modern mathematics.......
Abel’s test
Abel’s test, in analysis (a branch of mathematics), a test for determining if an infinite series converges to some......
Abraham bar Hiyya
Abraham bar Hiyya was a Spanish Jewish philosopher, astronomer, astrologer, and mathematician whose writings were......
absolute value
absolute value, Measure of the magnitude of a real number, complex number, or vector. Geometrically, the absolute......
Abū al-Wafāʾ
Abū al-Wafāʾ was a distinguished Muslim astronomer and mathematician, who made important contributions to the development......
Acutis, Blessed Carlo
Blessed Carlo Acutis ; beatified October 10, 2020) was an English-born Italian computer programmer who was beatified......
Adams, John Couch
John Couch Adams was a British mathematician and astronomer, one of two people who independently discovered the......
adding machine
adding machine, a type of calculator (q.v.) used for performing simple arithmetical...
Adleman, Leonard M.
Leonard M. Adleman is an American computer scientist and cowinner, with American computer scientist Ronald L. Rivest......
Aepinus, Franz Maria Ulrich Theodor Hoch
Franz Maria Ulrich Theodor Hoch Aepinus was a physicist who discovered (1756) pyroelectricity in the mineral tourmaline......
Agassi, Shai
Shai Agassi is an Israeli entrepreneur who, after founding a number of technology companies, became known for Better......
Agnesi, Maria Gaetana
Maria Gaetana Agnesi was an Italian mathematician and philosopher, considered to be the first woman in the Western......
Ahlfors, Lars Valerian
Lars Valerian Ahlfors was a Finnish mathematician who was awarded one of the first two Fields Medals in 1936 for......
Ahn Cheol-Soo
Ahn Cheol-Soo is a physician, educator, politician, and computer entrepreneur who founded AhnLab, Inc., South Korea’s......
Aiken, Howard
Howard Aiken was a mathematician who invented the Harvard Mark I, the forerunner of the modern electronic digital......
al-Ḥanafī, ʿAlam al-Dīn
ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Ḥanafī was an Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and engineer. He wrote a treatise on Euclid’s......
Aleksandrov, Pavel Sergeevich
Pavel Sergeevich Aleksandrov was a Russian mathematician who made important contributions to topology. In 1897......
Alembert, Jean Le Rond d’
Jean Le Rond d’Alembert was a French mathematician, philosopher, and writer, who achieved fame as a mathematician......
aleph-null
aleph-null (ℵ0), in mathematics, the cardinality of the infinite set of natural numbers {1, 2, 3, …}. The cardinality,......
Alexander, James Waddell, II
James W. Alexander II was an American mathematician and a founder of the branch of mathematics originally known......
algebra, elementary
elementary algebra, branch of mathematics that deals with the general properties of numbers and the relations between......
algebra, linear
linear algebra, mathematical discipline that deals with vectors and matrices and, more generally, with vector spaces......
algebra, modern
modern algebra, branch of mathematics concerned with the general algebraic structure of various sets (such as real......
algebraic equation
algebraic equation, statement of the equality of two expressions formulated by applying to a set of variables the......
algebraic geometry
algebraic geometry, study of the geometric properties of solutions to polynomial equations, including solutions......
algebraic number
algebraic number, real number for which there exists a polynomial equation with integer coefficients such that......
algebraic surface
algebraic surface, in three-dimensional space, a surface the equation of which is f(x, y, z) = 0, with f(x, y,......
algebraic topology
algebraic topology, Field of mathematics that uses algebraic structures to study transformations of geometric objects.......
algorithm
algorithm, systematic procedure that produces—in a finite number of steps—the answer to a question or the solution......
algorithms, analysis of
analysis of algorithms, basic computer science discipline that aids in the development of effective programs. Analysis......
Allen, Frances E.
Frances E. Allen was an American computer scientist who was the first woman to win the A.M. Turing Award (2006),......
Allen, Paul
Paul Allen was an American investor and philanthropist best known as the cofounder of Microsoft Corporation, a......
American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society, oldest extant learned society in the United States, founded under the impetus of......
amicable numbers
amicable numbers, in mathematics, a pair of integers in which each is the sum of the divisors of the other. The......
analytic geometry
analytic geometry, mathematical subject in which algebraic symbolism and methods are used to represent and solve......
Analytical Engine
Analytical Engine, generally considered the first computer, designed and partly built by the English inventor Charles......
Andreessen, Marc
Marc Andreessen is an American-born software engineer who played a key role in creating the Web browser Mosaic......
ANOVA
ANOVA, statistical procedure used to compare means of three or more groups. ANOVA tests compare the amount of variance......
Apollonius of Perga
Apollonius of Perga was a mathematician, known by his contemporaries as “the Great Geometer,” whose treatise Conics......
Archimedes
Archimedes was the most famous mathematician and inventor in ancient Greece. He is especially important for his......
Archytas of Tarentum
Archytas of Tarentum was a Greek scientist, philosopher, and major Pythagorean mathematician. Plato, a close friend,......
Argand diagram
Argand diagram, graphic portrayal of complex numbers, those of the form x + yi, in which x and y are real numbers......
arithmetic
arithmetic, branch of mathematics in which numbers, relations among numbers, and observations on numbers are studied......
arithmetic function
arithmetic function, any mathematical function defined for integers (…, −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …) and dependent......
Arithmometer
Arithmometer, early calculating machine, built in 1820 by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar of France. Whereas earlier......
Artin, Emil
Emil Artin was an Austro-German mathematician who made fundamental contributions to class field theory, notably......
Aryabhata
Aryabhata was an astronomer and the earliest Indian mathematician whose work and history are available to modern......
Assange, Julian
Julian Assange is an Australian computer programmer who founded the media organization WikiLeaks. Practicing what......
associative law
associative law, in mathematics, either of two laws relating to number operations of addition and multiplication,......
asymptote
asymptote, In mathematics, a line or curve that acts as the limit of another line or curve. For example, a descending......
Atanasoff, John Vincent
John Vincent Atanasoff was an American physicist who, with his graduate student Clifford Berry, developed the Atanasoff-Berry......
Atiyah, Sir Michael Francis
Sir Michael Francis Atiyah was a British mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 primarily for his......
Aumann, Robert J.
Robert J. Aumann is an Israeli mathematician, who shared the 2005 Nobel Prize for Economics with Thomas C. Schelling.......
automorphism
automorphism, in mathematics, a correspondence that associates to every element in a set a unique element of the......
Avogadro, Amedeo
Amedeo Avogadro was an Italian mathematical physicist who showed in what became known as Avogadro’s law that, under......
axiom
axiom, in logic, an indemonstrable first principle, rule, or maxim, that has found general acceptance or is thought......
axiom of choice
axiom of choice, statement in the language of set theory that makes it possible to form sets by choosing an element......
Babbage, Charles
Charles Babbage was an English mathematician and inventor who is credited with having conceived the first automatic......
Bachman, Charles
Charles Bachman was an American computer scientist and winner of the 1973 A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour......
Backus, John Warner
John Warner Backus was an American computer scientist and mathematician who led the team that designed FORTRAN......
Bacon, Roger
Roger Bacon was an English Franciscan philosopher and educational reformer who was a major medieval proponent of......
Baire, René-Louis
René-Louis Baire was a French mathematician whose study of irrational numbers and the concept of continuity of......
Baker, Alan
Alan Baker was a British mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1970 for his work in number theory.......
Balmer, Johann Jakob
Johann Jakob Balmer was a Swiss mathematician who discovered a formula basic to the development of atomic theory......
Banach, Stefan
Stefan Banach was a Polish mathematician who founded modern functional analysis and helped develop the theory of......
Banneker, Benjamin
Benjamin Banneker was a mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs, inventor, and writer, one of the first......
Baran, Paul
Paul Baran was an American electrical engineer, inventor of the distributed network and, contemporaneously with......
Barlow, Peter
Peter Barlow was an optician and mathematician who invented two varieties of achromatic (non-colour-distorting)......
Barrow, Isaac
Isaac Barrow was an English classical scholar, theologian, and mathematician who was the teacher of Isaac Newton.......
Bartholin, Erasmus
Erasmus Bartholin was a Danish physician, mathematician, and physicist who discovered the optical phenomenon of......
Bartlett’s test
Bartlett’s test, in statistics, a test to ascertain if multiple samples have the same variance (the square of the......
base
base, in mathematics, an arbitrarily chosen whole number greater than 1 in terms of which any number can be expressed......
Battānī, al-
al-Battānī was an Arab astronomer and mathematician who refined existing values for the length of the year and......
Bayes, Thomas
Thomas Bayes was an English Nonconformist theologian and mathematician who was the first to use probability inductively......
Bayesian analysis
Bayesian analysis, a method of statistical inference (named for English mathematician Thomas Bayes) that allows......
Bayes’s theorem
Bayes’s theorem, in probability theory, a means for revising predictions in light of relevant evidence, also known......
Beal’s conjecture
Beal’s conjecture, in number theory, a generalization of Fermat’s last theorem. Fermat’s last theorem, which was......
Bell, Eric Temple
Eric Temple Bell was a Scottish American mathematician, educator, and writer who made significant contributions......
Beltrami, Eugenio
Eugenio Beltrami was an Italian mathematician known for his description of non-Euclidean geometry and for his theories......
Bernays, Paul Isaak
Paul Isaak Bernays was a Swiss mathematician whose work in proof theory and axiomatic set theory helped create......
Berners-Lee, Tim
Tim Berners-Lee is a British computer scientist, generally credited as the inventor of the World Wide Web. In 2004,......
Bernoulli family
Bernoulli family, Two generations of distinguished Swiss mathematicians. Jakob (1655–1705) and Johann (1667–1748)......
Bernoulli, Daniel
Daniel Bernoulli was the most distinguished of the second generation of the Bernoulli family of Swiss mathematicians.......
Bernoulli, Jakob
Jakob Bernoulli was the first of the Bernoulli family of Swiss mathematicians. He introduced the first principles......
Bernoulli, Johann
Johann Bernoulli was a major member of the Bernoulli family of Swiss mathematicians. He investigated the then new......
Bertillon, Jacques
Jacques Bertillon was a French statistician and demographer whose application of quantitative methods to the analysis......
Bertrand, Joseph
Joseph Bertrand was a French mathematician and educator remembered for his elegant applications of differential......
Bessel function
Bessel function, any of a set of mathematical functions systematically derived around 1817 by the German astronomer......
Betti, Enrico
Enrico Betti was a mathematician who wrote a pioneering memoir on topology, the study of surfaces and higher-dimensional......
Bhaskara I
Bhaskara I was an Indian astronomer and mathematician who helped to disseminate the mathematical work of Aryabhata......
Bhāskara II
Bhāskara II was the leading mathematician of the 12th century, who wrote the first work with full and systematic......
binary number system
binary number system, in mathematics, positional numeral system employing 2 as the base and so requiring only two......
binomial coefficients
binomial coefficients, positive integers that are the numerical coefficients of the binomial theorem, which expresses......
binomial distribution
binomial distribution, in statistics, a common distribution function for discrete processes in which a fixed probability......
binomial theorem
binomial theorem, statement that for any positive integer n, the nth power of the sum of two numbers a and b may......

Mathematics Encyclopedia Articles By Title