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matrix
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- (math.) A square or rectangular array of numbers, usually written enclosed in a large pair of parentheses. Matrices, which are added and multiplied using a special set of rules, are extremely useful for representing quantities, particularly in some branches of physics. A matrix can be thought of as a linear operator on vectors. Matrix-vector multiplication can be used to describe geometric transformations such as scaling, rotation, reflection, and translation.
The first mathematical use of the word "matrix" was around 1850 by James Sylvester who saw a matrix as a way of obtaining determinants, but didn't fully appreciate their potential. Within a year of his first use of the term, he introduced the idea to Arthur Cayley who was the first to publish the inverse of a matrix and to treat matrices as purely abstract mathematical forms. The use of mathematical arrays to solve problems predates the application of the name by about 2000 years. Around 200 B.C. in the Chinese text Juizhang Suanshu (Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Arts) the author solves a system of three equations in three unknowns by placing the coefficients on a counting board and solving by a process that today would be called Gaussian elimination. "Matrix" comes from the same Latin root that gives us "mother", and was used to refer to the womb and to pregnant animals. It became generalized to mean any situation or substance that contributes to the origin of something.
• ALGEBRA - (geol.) The solid matter in which a fossil or crystal is embedded. Also, a binding substance (e.g., cement in concrete).
• GEOLOGY AND PLANETARY SCIENCE
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