Spectrum
A spectrum (pl.: spectra or spectrums)
Spectrum has since been applied by analogy to topics outside optics. Thus, one might talk about the "spectrum of political opinion", or the "spectrum of activity" of a drug, or the "autism spectrum". In these uses, values within a spectrum may not be associated with precisely quantifiable numbers or definitions. Such uses imply a broad range of conditions or behaviors grouped together and studied under a single title for ease of discussion. Nonscientific uses of the term spectrum are sometimes misleading. For instance, a single left–right spectrum of political opinion does not capture the full range of people's political beliefs. Political scientists use a variety of biaxial and multiaxial systems to more accurately characterize political opinion.
In most modern usages of spectrum there is a unifying theme between the extremes at either end. This was not always true in older usage.
Etymology
In
The prefix "spectro-" is used to form words relating to spectra. For example, a
Physical sciences
In the
Biological science
In psychiatry, the
Mathematics
In
In functional analysis, the concept of the spectrum of a bounded operator is a generalization of the eigenvalue concept for matrices.
In
Social science
In
References
- ^ Dictionary.com Archived February 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. (accessed: January 25, 2008).
- ^ OpenStax Astronomy, "Spectroscopy in Astronomy". OpenStax CNX. September 29, 2016 "OpenStax CNX". Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- doi:10.1098/rstl.1671.0072. The word "spectrum" to describe a band of colors that has been produced, by refraction or diffraction, from a beam of light first appears on p. 3076.
- ISBN 978-0-8036-8313-6.
- ^ ISBN 0-443-05249 2)
- PMID 17034644.