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atomism

(Encyclopedia)atomism, philosophic concept of the nature of the universe, holding that the universe is composed of invisible, indestructible material particles. The theory was first advanced in the 5th cent. b.c. b...

Isaacs, Sir Isaac Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Isaacs, Sir Isaac Alfred īˈzəks [key], 1855–1948, Australian jurist and political leader. He sat in the colonial legislature (1892–1901), became solicitor general (1893), and served as attorney...

Pitman, Sir Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Pitman, Sir Isaac, 1813–97, English inventor of phonographic shorthand. In Stenographic Soundhand (1837) he set forth a shorthand system based on phonetic rather than orthographic principles; adapte...

Rowell, Newton Wesley

(Encyclopedia)Rowell, Newton Wesley rouˈəl [key], 1867–1941, Canadian jurist and statesman, b. Ontario. He was elected (1911) to the Ontario legislature and then served in the Canadian House of Commons (1917–...

Halley, Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Halley, Edmond hălˈē, hôˈlē [key], 1656–1742, English astronomer and mathematician. He is particularly noted as the first astronomer to predict the return of a comet and the first to point out...

Queenston

(Encyclopedia)Queenston, village, S Ont., Canada, just N of Niagara Falls. There the British defeated American invaders in the battle of Queenston Heights (Oct. 13, 1812) in the War of 1812. The British commanding ...

Coffin, Sir Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Coffin, Sir Isaac, 1759–1839, British naval officer, b. Boston, Mass. From a loyalist family, he fought for the British in the American Revolution and in the French Revolutionary Wars; at the end of...

motion

(Encyclopedia)motion, the change of position of one body with respect to another. The rate of change is the speed of the body. If the direction of motion is also given, then the velocity of the body is determined; ...

Banks, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Thomas, 1735–1805, English neoclassical sculptor, studied at the Royal Academy. A traveling scholarship enabled him to study in Rome from 1772 to 1779. In 1781 he went to Russia, where Cather...

Halifax, Charles Montagu, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Halifax, Charles Montagu, earl of hălˈəfăks [key], 1661–1715, English statesman. He and Matthew Prior were coauthors of a parody of John Dryden's The Hind and the Panther, entitled The Town and ...
 

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