Definition of "Herschel"

Herschel

/ˈhɝʃl̩/

proper noun
1. A surname.
2. A male given name.
3. (astronomy, obsolete) The planet Uranus. In use until the mid-19th century as an alternative to Georgium Sidus after King George III.
4. A place name:
  1. A special service area in the Rural Municipality of Mountain View No. 318, Saskatchewan, Canada.
  2. A former settlement on Herschel Island, Yukon, Canada.
  3. A settlement in Eastern Cape province, South Africa, named after Sir John Herschel.
noun
plural Herschels
1. (cellular automata) A heptomino shaped like the lowercase letter h, critical as a methuselah.
  Quotations
  This Herschel could be sent through stages of Buckingham's components, producing an arbitrary excess of gliders along a variety of different paths.
  1996 November 16, Paul Callahan, “Still-life glider reflector found”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet)
  This uses Paul Callahan's catalysis of a glider into a Herschel and a glider, followed by David Buckingham's 77, 64, 64, 77, and 77 gen Herschel moves.
  1999 October 7, Mirek Wojtowicz, “Conway's Life: Glider reflector?”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet)
  In Conway's Life, for example, a surprising number of small patterns serendipitously create R-pentominos and/or B-heptominos, which are "tamable" and happen to travel very well; this is what allows Herschel circuitry to be built.
  2007 May 12, Dave Greene, “Wanted: 2D CA, "as complex" but "denser" than Life”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎ (Usenet)