The successive terms of (21) are called the harmonics of the first term.
The whole series forms the series of odd harmonics.
His last publication, which appeared in 1878, was on spherical harmonics (Beitreige zur Theorie der Kugelf unctionen) .
For the subjects of this heading see the articles DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS; FOURIER'S SERIES; CONTINUED FRACTIONS; FUNCTION; FUNCTION OF REAL VARIABLES; FUNCTION COMPLEX; GROUPS, THEORY OF; INFINITESIMAL CALCULUS; MAXIMA AND MINIMA; SERIES; SPHERICAL HARMONICS; TRIGONOMETRY; VARIATIONS, CALCULUS OF.
Gauss in particular employed it in the calculation of the magnetic potential of the earth, and it received new light from Clerk Maxwell's interpretation of harmonics with reference to poles on the sphere.
