In geography, bight has two meanings. A bight can be simply a bend or curve in any geographical feature—usually a bend or curve in the line between land and water.

Alternatively, the term can refer to a large (and often only slightly receding) bay. It is distinguished from a sound by being shallower. Traditionally explorers defined a bight as a bay that could be sailed out of on a single tack in a square-rigged sailing vessel, regardless of the direction of the wind (typically meaning the apex of the bight is less than 25 degrees from the edges).

Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geographia, lit. "earth describe-write") is the science that studies the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of the Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes (276-194 BC). Four historical traditions in geographical research are the spatial analysis of the natural and the human phenomena (geography as the study of distribution), the area studies (places and regions), the study of the man-land relationship, and the research in the earth sciences. Nonetheless, the modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that foremost seeks to understand the Earth and all of its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. Geography has been called "the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical science". Geography is divided into two main branches: the human geography and the physical geography.

Simon Stevin (1548/49 – 1620) was a Flemish mathematician and military engineer. He was active in a great many areas of science and engineering, both theoretical and practical. He also translated various mathematical terms into Dutch, making it one of the few European languages in which the word for mathematics, wiskunde ("the art of what is certain"), was not derived from Greek (via Latin).

Stevin was born in Bruges, Flanders (now Belgium) around the year 1548, to unmarried parents, Antheunis (Anton) Stevin and Catelyne van der Poort. His father is believed to have been a cadet son of a mayor of Veurne, while his mother Cathelijne (or Catelyne) was the daughter of a burgher family from Ypres. Simon's mother Cathelijne was later married to a man who was involved in the carpet and silk trade. Through her marriage Cathelijne became a member of a family who were Calvinists and it is presumed that Simon was brought in the Calvinist faith. Very little has been recorded about his life. Even the exact date of birth and the date and place of his death (The Hague or Leiden) are uncertain. It is known that he left a widow with two children; and one or two hints scattered throughout his works inform us that he began life as a merchant's clerk in Antwerp, that he travelled in Poland, Denmark and other parts of northern Europe. After his travels, in 1581, while in his thirties, he moved to Leiden where he attended the Latin school and at the age of 35 (1583) entered the University of Leiden where he befriended William of Orange's second son, Maurits (Maurice), the Count Of Nassau. Following William of Orange's assassination and Prince Maurice of Nassau's assumption of his father's office, he became an advisor and tutor of Maurice, who asked his advice on many occasions, and made him a public officer – at first director of the so-called "waterstaet" (the government authority for public works) from 1592, and later quartermaster-general of the army of the States-General.