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Babbitt, Milton

(Encyclopedia)Babbitt, Milton, 1916–2011, American composer, b. Philadelphia. Babbitt turned to music after studying mathematics. He studied composition with Roger Sessions at Princeton, and taught there from 193...

Strathclyde, University of

(Encyclopedia)Strathclyde, University of, at Glasgow, Scotland; founded 1796 as Anderson's Institution. In 1886 its name was changed to Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, and in 1956 it became known as...

statistics

(Encyclopedia)statistics, science of collecting and classifying a group of facts according to their relative number and determining certain values that represent characteristics of the group. The most familiar stat...

Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de pyĕr sēmôNˈ märkēˈ də läpläsˈ [key], 1749–1827, French astronomer and mathematician. At 18 he went to Paris, proved his gift for mathematical analysis to...

proportion

(Encyclopedia)proportion, in mathematics, the equality of two ratios. Two pairs of quantities a,b and c,d are in proportion if their ratios a/b and c/d are equal, i.e., if the equation a/b=c/d is true. For example,...

exponent

(Encyclopedia)exponent, in mathematics, a number, letter, or algebraic expression written above and to the right of another number, letter, or expression called the base. In the expressions x2 and xn, the number 2 ...

empiricism

(Encyclopedia)empiricism ĕmpĭrˈĭsĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=experience], philosophical doctrine that all knowledge is derived from experience. For most empiricists, experience includes inner experience—reflection upo...

Bohr, Niels Henrik David

(Encyclopedia)Bohr, Niels Henrik David bōr [key], 1885–1962, Danish physicist, one of the foremost scientists of modern physics. He studied at the Univ. of Copenhagen (Ph.D. 1911) and carried on research on the...

Commerce, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Commerce, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with promoting U.S. economic development and technological advancement. In Feb., 1903, the Congress established a Department...

planetary science

(Encyclopedia)planetary science or planetology, study of planets and planetary systems as a whole. Planetary science applies the theories and methods of traditional disciplines such as astronomy, geology, physics, ...