Ellipsis (three periods) in mathematics, physics, and chemistry indicates that there is more information that can be added but not included in the original statement. For example, in an essay written about someone who lived in the 19th century, it might be appropriate to say that he was "a product of his time" because this phrase means that whatever else one may think of him, he could not have been very different from other people of his age and place. This usage comes from mathematics, where a definition, theorem, or formula may be expanded by including examples. There are many more examples of this use of ellipses in mathematics; for instance, "x is transcendental" means that x is a number such that no matter how many digits you write after the radix point (., e.g., 12345678901234567890), there will always be a number greater than it that cannot be expressed as a finite sum of powers of x.