Bessel

American  

[bes-uhl] / ˈbɛs əl /

noun

1. Friedrich Wilhelm 1784–1846, German astronomer.

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Bessel British  

/ ˈbɛsəl /

noun

1. Friedrich Wilhelm (ˈfriːdrɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm). 1784–1846, German astronomer and mathematician. He made the first authenticated measurement of a star's distance (1841) and systematized a series of mathematical functions used in physics

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Example Sentences

Eager to learn more, I attended a workshop led by the Dutch-born psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, a leading figure in trauma research whose 2014 book, The Body Keeps the Score, was a bestseller.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

“Keeping Score” is inspired by Bessel van der Kolk’s book, “The Body Keeps the Score,” which details how trauma manifests in the body through illness.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

The author, psychiatrist and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk, said he is heartened by the “quite important and quite revolutionary” growing awareness of trauma and its effects.

From Washington Post • Feb. 21, 2022

Talking about trauma has value, but it does not release it; as trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk noted in the title of his bestselling book, "the body keeps the score."

From Salon • Jul. 5, 2021

Similarly, Wilhelm Friedrich Bessel predicted the existence of Neptune on the basis of anomalies in the orbit of Uranus.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton