Mathematician and philosopher, born Prague, Bohemia, 1781; died there, 1848. Ordained, 1805, he was appointed to the chair of the philosophy of religion in Prague University. Owing to the rationalizing tendencies of his lectures, he was dismissed, 1820, and retired into private life, engaging in mathematical studies. His theory of parallel lines (1804) anticipated Legendre. He developed the theory of functions of one real variable, and made notable additions to the theory of differentiation, the binominal theorem, and the concept of infinity.