1784-1846

German Astronomer and Mathematician

Friedrich Bessel was one of the founders of modern astronomy. He made the first accurate measurements of the positions of stars and of interstellar distances, providing the data upon which an understanding of the dimensions of the universe could be based. He also made significant contributions to mathematics, especially the development of "Bessel functions."

Bessel was born in Minden, Brandenburg, in 1784. He showed interest in scientific and mathematics in school but ended his formal education in 1799, at age 14, to enter into an apprenticeship with an import-export company. His interest in the naval activities of the company, combined with his natural interest in science, led him to study the mathematics of navigation. This study developed further into an interest in astronomy. In 1804 Bessel published a paper in which he reported his calculation of the orbit of Halley's Comet, based on...