Mathematics, BIR-COH

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

Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture
Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture, in mathematics, the conjecture that an elliptic curve (a type of cubic curve,......
Birkhoff, George David
George David Birkhoff was the foremost American mathematician of the early 20th century, who formulated the ergodic......
birthday problem
birthday problem, question in probability theory that asks in a group containing a given number of n people, what......
Black, Max
Max Black was an American Analytical philosopher who was concerned with the nature of clarity and meaning in language.......
Blackwell, David
David Blackwell was an American statistician and mathematician who made significant contributions to game theory,......
Blaschke, Wilhelm Johann Eugen
Wilhelm Johann Eugen Blaschke was a German mathematician whose major contributions to geometry concerned kinematics......
Bliss, Gilbert Ames
Gilbert Ames Bliss was a U.S. mathematician and educator known for his work on the calculus of variations. He received......
Bliss, Nathaniel
Nathaniel Bliss was Britain’s fourth Astronomer Royal. Bliss graduated from Pembroke College, Oxford (B.A., 1720;......
Blum, Manuel
Manuel Blum is a Venezuelan-born American mathematician and computer scientist and winner of the 1995 A.M. Turing......
Bochner, Salomon
Salomon Bochner was a Galician-born American mathematician who made profound contributions to harmonic analysis,......
Bohr, Harald August
Harald August Bohr was a Danish mathematician who devised a theory that concerned generalizations of functions......
Bolyai, János
János Bolyai was a Hungarian mathematician and one of the founders of non-Euclidean geometry— a geometry that differs......
Bolza, Oskar
Oskar Bolza was a German mathematician and educator who was particularly noted for his work on the reduction of......
Bolzano, Bernhard
Bernhard Bolzano was a Bohemian mathematician and theologian who provided a more detailed proof for the binomial......
Bombieri, Enrico
Enrico Bombieri is an Italian mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1974 for his work in number theory.......
Bondi, Sir Hermann
Sir Hermann Bondi was an Austrian-born British mathematician and cosmologist who, with Fred Hoyle and Thomas Gold,......
Boole, George
George Boole was an English mathematician who helped establish modern symbolic logic and whose algebra of logic,......
Boolean algebra
Boolean algebra, symbolic system of mathematical logic that represents relationships between entities—either ideas......
Borcherds, Richard Ewen
Richard Ewen Borcherds is a British mathematician who won the Fields Medal in 1998 for his work in algebra. Borcherds......
Borda, Jean-Charles de
Jean-Charles de Borda was a French mathematician and nautical astronomer noted for his studies of fluid mechanics......
Borel, Émile
Émile Borel was a French mathematician who created the first effective theory of the measure of sets of points......
Borg, Anita
Anita Borg was an American computer scientist who advocated for women’s advancement in technology. Borg attended......
Boscovich, Ruggero Giuseppe
Ruggero Giuseppe Boscovich was an astronomer and mathematician who gave the first geometric procedure for determining......
Bose, Satyendra Nath
Satyendra Nath Bose was an Indian mathematician and physicist noted for his collaboration with Albert Einstein......
boundary value
boundary value, condition accompanying a differential equation in the solution of physical problems. In mathematical......
Bourbaki, Nicolas
Nicolas Bourbaki, pseudonym chosen by eight or nine young mathematicians in France in the mid 1930s to represent......
Bourgain, Jean
Jean Bourgain was a Belgian mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1994 for his work in analysis. Bourgain......
Bowditch, Nathaniel
Nathaniel Bowditch was a self-educated American mathematician and astronomer, author of the best American book......
brachistochrone
brachistochrone, the planar curve on which a body subjected only to the force of gravity will slide (without friction)......
Bradwardine, Thomas
Thomas Bradwardine was the archbishop of Canterbury, theologian, and mathematician. Bradwardine studied at Merton......
Brahmagupta
Brahmagupta was one of the most accomplished of the ancient Indian astronomers. He also had a profound and direct......
Brassard, Gilles
Gilles Brassard is a Canadian computer scientist known for his work in quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation.......
Brauer, Richard Dagobert
Richard Dagobert Brauer was a German-born American mathematician and educator, a pioneer in the development of......
Brianchon, Charles-Julien
Charles-Julien Brianchon was a French mathematician who derived a geometrical theorem (now known as Brianchon’s......
Briggs, Henry
Henry Briggs was an English mathematician who invented the common, or Briggsian, logarithm. His writings were mainly......
Brin, Sergey
Sergey Brin is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur who created, along with Larry Page, the online search......
Bronowski, Jacob
Jacob Bronowski was a Polish-born British mathematician and man of letters who eloquently presented the case for......
Brooks, Fred
Fred Brooks was an American computer scientist and winner of the 1999 A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour in......
Brooks, Rodney
Rodney Brooks is an Australian computer scientist, artificial intelligence scientist, and designer of mobile autonomous......
Brouwer, Luitzen Egbertus Jan
Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer was a Dutch mathematician who founded mathematical intuitionism (a doctrine that views......
Brouwer’s fixed point theorem
Brouwer’s fixed point theorem, in mathematics, a theorem of algebraic topology that was stated and proved in 1912......
Brown, Ernest William
Ernest William Brown was a British-born American mathematician and astronomer known for his theory of the motion......
Bruno, Giordano
Giordano Bruno was an Italian philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, and occultist whose theories anticipated......
Burnside problem
Burnside problem, in group theory (a branch of modern algebra), problem of determining if a finitely generated......
Bush, Vannevar
Vannevar Bush was an American electrical engineer and administrator who developed the Differential Analyzer and......
butterfly effect
butterfly effect, idea in chaos theory that describes how small changes to a complex system’s initial conditions......
Bôcher, Maxime
Maxime Bôcher was an American mathematician and educator whose teachings and writings influenced many mathematical......
Bürgi, Joost
Joost Bürgi was a mathematician who invented logarithms independently of the Scottish mathematician John Napier.......
Cajori, Florian
Florian Cajori was a Swiss-born U.S. educator and mathematician whose works on the history of mathematics were......
Calculating Clock
Calculating Clock, the earliest known calculator, built in 1623 by the German astronomer and mathematician Wilhelm......
calculator
calculator, machine for automatically performing arithmetical operations and certain mathematical functions. Modern......
calculus
calculus, branch of mathematics concerned with the calculation of instantaneous rates of change (differential calculus)......
calculus of variations
calculus of variations, branch of mathematics concerned with the problem of finding a function for which the value......
Cantor, Georg
Georg Cantor was a German mathematician who founded set theory and introduced the mathematically meaningful concept......
Cantor, Moritz Benedikt
Moritz Benedikt Cantor was a German historian of mathematics, one of the greatest of the 19th century. Cantor spent......
Cantor’s theorem
Cantor’s theorem, in set theory, the theorem that the cardinality (numerical size) of a set is strictly less than......
Carathéodory, Constantin
Constantin Carathéodory was a German mathematician of Greek origin who made important contributions to the theory......
Cardano, Girolamo
Girolamo Cardano was an Italian physician, mathematician, and astrologer who gave the first clinical description......
Carleson, Lennart
Lennart Carleson is a Swedish mathematician and winner of the 2006 Abel Prize “for his profound and seminal contributions......
Carmack, John
John Carmack is an American computer-game designer whose pioneering work on three-dimensional game design led to......
Cartan, Henri
Henri Cartan was a French mathematician who made fundamental advances in the theory of analytic functions. Son......
Cartan, Élie-Joseph
Élie-Joseph Cartan was a French mathematician who greatly developed the theory of Lie groups and contributed to......
Cartesian coordinates
Cartesian coordinates, system of describing the position of points in space using perpendicular axis lines that......
Cartwright, Mary
Mary Cartwright was a British mathematician known for contributing to the development of chaos theory—specifically......
catastrophe theory
catastrophe theory, in mathematics, a set of methods used to study and classify the ways in which a system can......
catenary
catenary, in mathematics, a curve that describes the shape of a flexible hanging chain or cable—the name derives......
Cauchy distribution
Cauchy distribution, in statistics, continuous distribution function with two parameters, first studied early in......
Cauchy, Augustin-Louis
Augustin-Louis Cauchy was a French mathematician who pioneered in analysis and the theory of substitution groups......
Cauchy-Schwarz inequality
Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, Any of several related inequalities developed by Augustin-Louis Cauchy and, later, Herman......
Cavalieri, Bonaventura
Bonaventura Cavalieri was an Italian mathematician who made developments in geometry that were precursors to integral......
Cayley, Arthur
Arthur Cayley was an English mathematician and leader of the British school of pure mathematics that emerged in......
central limit theorem
central limit theorem, in probability theory, a theorem that establishes the normal distribution as the distribution......
centroid
centroid, In geometry, the centre of mass of a two-dimensional figure or three-dimensional solid. Thus the centroid......
Cerf, Vinton
Vinton Cerf is an American computer scientist who is considered one of the founders, along with Robert Kahn, of......
Ceva, Giovanni
Giovanni Ceva was an Italian mathematician, physicist, and hydraulic engineer best known for the geometric theorem......
Ceva, Tommaso
Tommaso Ceva was a Jesuit mathematician and poet, who was the younger brother of Giovanni Ceva. In 1663 Tommaso......
Ceva’s theorem
Ceva’s theorem, in geometry, theorem concerning the vertices and sides of a triangle. In particular, the theorem......
chain rule
chain rule, in calculus, basic method for differentiating a composite function. If f(x) and g(x) are two functions,......
chaos theory
chaos theory, in mechanics and mathematics, the study of apparently random or unpredictable behaviour in systems......
Charles, Jacques
Jacques Charles was a French mathematician, physicist, and inventor who, with Nicolas Robert, was the first to......
Chasles, Michel
Michel Chasles was a French mathematician who, independently of the Swiss German mathematician Jakob Steiner, elaborated......
Chebyshev, Pafnuty
Pafnuty Chebyshev was the founder of the St. Petersburg mathematical school (sometimes called the Chebyshev school),......
Chebyshev’s inequality
Chebyshev’s inequality, in probability theory, a theorem that characterizes the dispersion of data away from its......
Chern, Shiing-shen
Shiing-shen Chern was a Chinese American mathematician and educator whose researches in differential geometry developed......
chi-squared test
chi-squared test, a hypothesis-testing method in which observed frequencies are compared with expected frequencies......
Chinese remainder theorem
Chinese remainder theorem, ancient theorem that gives the conditions necessary for multiple equations to have a......
Church, Alonzo
Alonzo Church was a U.S. mathematician. He earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University. His contributions to number......
Church’s thesis
Church’s thesis, a principle formulated by the 20th-century American logician Alonzo Church, stating that the recursive......
Châtelet, Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du
Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet was a French mathematician and physicist who was......
circle
circle, geometrical curve, one of the conic sections, consisting of the set of all points the same distance (the......
Clairaut’s equation
Clairaut’s equation, in mathematics, a differential equation of the form y = x (dy/dx) + f(dy/dx) where f(dy/dx)......
Clarke, Edmund M.
Edmund M. Clarke was an American computer scientist and co-winner of the 2007 A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour......
Clifford, William Kingdon
William Kingdon Clifford was a British philosopher and mathematician who, influenced by the non-Euclidean geometries......
cliometrics
cliometrics, Application of economic theory and statistical analysis to the study of history, developed by Robert......
cluster analysis
cluster analysis, in statistics, set of tools and algorithms that is used to classify different objects into groups......
Cocke, John
John Cocke was an American mathematician and computer scientist and winner of the 1984 A.M. Turing Award, the highest......
Cocker, Edward
Edward Cocker was the reputed English author of Cocker’s Arithmetic, a famous textbook, the popularity of which......
Codd, Edgar Frank
Edgar Frank Codd was a British-born American computer scientist and mathematician who devised the “relational”......
coefficient of determination
coefficient of determination, in statistics, R2 (or r2), a measure that assesses the ability of a model to predict......
Cohen, Paul Joseph
Paul Joseph Cohen was an American mathematician, who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 for his proof of the......

Mathematics Encyclopedia Articles By Title