Algol

Algol
/al"gol, -gawl/, n.
a star of the second magnitude in the constellation Perseus: the first known and most famous eclipsing binary star. Also called Demon Star.
[1350-1400; ME < Ar, equiv. to al the + ghul GHOUL; as trans. of Gk (Ptolemy) gorgónion the head of the Gorgon Medusa, held by Perseus]

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High-level algebraic computer programming language developed in the late 1950s as an international language for the expression of algorithms (its name is derived from ALGOrithmic Language) between humans as well as between humans and machines.

Used especially in mathematical and scientific applications, ALGOL was more popular in Europe than in the U.S., but it was an important precursor of Pascal and it influenced the development of C language.

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star
also called  Beta Persei 

      prototype of a class of variable stars called eclipsing binaries (eclipsing variable star), the second brightest star in the northern constellation Perseus. Its apparent visual magnitude changes over the range of (approximately) 2.2 to 3.5 with a period of 2.87 days. Even at its dimmest it remains readily visible to the unaided eye. The name probably derives from an Arabic phrase meaning “demon,” or “mischief-maker,” and the Arabs may have been aware of the star's variability even before the invention of the telescope.

      The first European astronomer to note the light variation was the Italian Geminiano Montanari in 1670; the English astronomer John Goodricke (Goodricke, John) measured the cycle (69 hours) in 1782 and suggested partial eclipses of the star by another body as a cause, a hypothesis proved correct in 1889. The comparatively long duration of the eclipse shows that the dimensions of the two stars are not negligible in comparison with the distance between them. A third star, which does not take part in the eclipses, revolves about the other two with a period of 1.862 years.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • algol — algol …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • ALGOL — (langage) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Algol. Algol est un langage de programmation. Il a été créé à la fin des années 1950. Son nom est l acronyme d algorithmic oriented language (avec un clin d œil à l étoile β Persei). Son objectif était… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ALGOL X — was the code name given to the programming language which the Working Group 2.1 on ALGOL of the International Federation for Information Processing was to develop as a successor to ALGOL 60. It attempted to find a short term solution to existing… …   Wikipedia

  • ALGOL 68 — ist eine Programmiersprache. Ihr Entwurf beruhte auf den Anforderungen, dass sie geeignet sein soll, Algorithmen darzustellen und zu verbreiten, diese effektiv auf einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Rechenanlagen auszuführen und um zu helfen, sie… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ALGOL W — is a programming language. It was Niklaus Wirth s proposal for a successor to ALGOL 60 in the ALGOL 68 committee. It represented a relatively conservative modification of ALGOL 60; Wirth added string, bitstring, complex number and reference to… …   Wikipedia

  • Algol 68 — ist eine Programmiersprache. Ihr Entwurf beruhte auf den Anforderungen, dass sie geeignet sein soll, Algorithmen darzustellen und zu verbreiten, diese effektiv auf einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Rechenanlagen auszuführen und um zu helfen, sie… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Algol 68 — est un langage de programmation dérivé du langage Algol 60. L objectif des concepteurs d Algol 68 était d offrir un langage de programmation universel et résolument innovateur. Pour cela, sa syntaxe a été définie à l aide d une grammaire… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Algol W — est une version du langage Algol due à Niklaus Wirth, proposée au comité Algol 68 pour succéder à Algol 60. Bien qu antérieure au Pascal, elle était plus puissante à certains points de vue. En particulier toute expression ou tout bloc, en Algol W …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ALGOL — (eine Abkürzung für „Algorithmic Language“), meist Algol geschrieben, ist der Name einer Familie von Programmiersprachen, die ab Ende der 1950er Jahre bis in die 1980er Jahre Verwendung fanden. Trotz etlicher Gemeinsamkeiten in Struktur, Syntax… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ALGOL — (algorithmic oriented language) Langage algorithmique utilisé pour le traitement des problèmes à caractère scientifique. Sa vocation essentiellement mathématique fait qu’il a joué un rôle important dans la définition et dans le développement des… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • ALGOL Y — was the name given to a speculated successor for the ALGOL 60 programming language that incorporated some radical features that were rejected for ALGOL 68 and ALGOL X. ALGOL Y was intended to be a radical reconstruction of ALGOL.One such feature… …   Wikipedia

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