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scientific notation

(Encyclopedia)scientific notation, means of expressing very large or very small numbers in a compact form that is easy to use in computations. In this notation, any number is expressed as a number between 1 and 10 ...

polyhedron

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Polyhedrons polyhedron pŏlˌēhēˈdrən [key], closed solid bounded by plane faces; each face of a polyhedron is a polygon. A cube is a polyhedron bounded by six polygons (in this case squar...

inequality

(Encyclopedia)inequality, in mathematics, statement that a mathematical expression is less than or greater than some other expression; an inequality is not as specific as an equation, but it does contain informatio...

Domat, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Domat, Jean zhäN dōmäˈ [key], 1625–96, French jurist. His Les Loix civiles dans leur ordre naturel [civil laws in their natural order] (3 vol., 1689–94) is a restatement of Roman law considere...

Alexander, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Alexander, Samuel, 1859–1938, British philosopher, b. Australia. From 1893 to 1924 he was professor of philosophy at Victoria Univ., Manchester. Strongly influenced by the theory of evolution, Alexa...

Irnerius

(Encyclopedia)Irnerius ûrˌnērˈēəs [key], c.1055–c.1130, Italian jurist and founder of the law school (c.1088) at Bologna, which became the center of legal scholarship in Europe. Though little is known of hi...

Hoogstraten, Samuel van

(Encyclopedia)Hoogstraten, Samuel van säˈmüĕl vän hōkhˈsträtən [key], 1627–78, Dutch portrait painter and etcher, studied with his father, Dirk van Hoogstraten (1596–1640), and with Rembrandt. His best...

Hicks, Sir John Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hicks, Sir John Richard, 1904–89, British economist, grad. Balliol College, Oxford, 1931. He was a professor at the Univ. of Manchester (1938–46) before joining the faculty of Oxford (1946). At th...

Fresnel, Augustin Jean

(Encyclopedia)Fresnel, Augustin Jean ōgüstăNˈ zhäN frānĕlˈ [key] 1788–1827, French physicist and engineer. He is known for his research on light, especially on conditions governing interference phenomena ...

Murray, Henry A.

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Henry A., 1893–1988, American psychologist, b. New York City. Murray was trained in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, chemistry, and biology. He taught at Harvard (1927–62), ...