Friedrich Bessel


Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784 - 1846) German astronomer and mathematician, perhaps best known for the Bessel functionDlmfMathworldPlanetmathPlanetmath.

As a teenager, he was apprenticed to a merchant and soon became his accountant. As the merchant did a lot of business with ships, Bessel developed an interest in astronomy. After publishing tables of atmospheric refraction, Bessel came up with the idea of using the parallax effect to measure the distance from the Earth to a star on the sky. In recognition of his achievements in astronomy, an asteroid was named after him.

Title Friedrich Bessel
Canonical name FriedrichBessel
Date of creation 2013-03-22 16:33:12
Last modified on 2013-03-22 16:33:12
Owner PrimeFan (13766)
Last modified by PrimeFan (13766)
Numerical id 4
Author PrimeFan (13766)
Entry type Biography
Classification msc 01A55
Synonym Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel