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Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel
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Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (22 July 1784 – 17 March 1846) was a German astronomer, mathematician, and physicist who determined the first accurate distance to a star via stellar parallax.
Quotes
Die Mathematik ist doch die angenehmste Wissenschaft; sie und die Astronomie vertreten bei mir Tanzgesellschaften, Konzerte und andere derartige Belustigungen, die ich nur dem Namen nach kenne.
Translation: Mathematics is after all the most agreeable science; for me, it and astronomy take the place of dance parties, concerts, and other such amusements, which I only know by name.
Written in 1802 at the age of 18 as an apprentice in Bremen; as published in Bessel als Bremer Handlungslehrling: Aus den Jugendjahren eines großen Gelehrten, Hrsg. von der Gesellschaft "Union" (Kaufmännischer Verein) zu Bremen, Kühtmann, Bremen (1890), p. 32.
External links
Category:1784 births
Category:1846 deaths
Category:Astronomers from Germany
Category:Mathematicians from Germany
Category:Physicists from Germany