Seidel

Philipp Ludwig von Seidel

Born: 24 Oct 1821 in Zweibrücken, Germany
Died: 13 Aug 1896 in Munich, Germany

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Seidel entered the University of Berlin in 1940 and studied under Dirichlet and Encke. He moved to Königsberg where he studied under Bessel, Jacobi and Franz Neumann. Seidel obtained his doctorate from Munich in 1846 and he went on to become professor there.

Seidel wrote on dioptics and mathematical analysis. His work on lens identified mathematically five coefficients describing the aberation of a lens, now called 'Seidel sums'. These Seidel sums correspond to spherical aberration, coma, astigmatism, Petzval curvature and distortion. He also introduced the concept of nonuniform convergence and applied probability to astronomy.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. F Lindemann, Gedächtnisrede auf L Ph von Seidel (Munich, 1898). 
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JOC/EFR February 1996