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Stephenson, George
(Encyclopedia)Stephenson, George, 1781–1848, British engineer, noted as a locomotive builder. He learned to read and write in night school at the age of 18, while working in a colliery. He constructed (1814) a tr...Fulton, Robert
(Encyclopedia)Fulton, Robert, 1765–1815, American inventor, engineer, and painter, b. near Lancaster, Pa. He was a man remarkable for his many talents and his mechanical genius. An expert gunsmith at the time of ...automobile
(Encyclopedia) CE5 Automobile chassis CE5 Two views of a six-cylinder automobile engine automobile, self-propelled vehicle used for travel on land. The term is commonly applied to a four-wheeled vehicle desig...fire fighting
(Encyclopedia)fire fighting, the use of strategy, personnel, and apparatus to extinguish, to confine, or to escape from fire. Ancient Rome is known to have had a fire department consisting by the 1st cent. of app...water wheel, device
(Encyclopedia)water wheel, device for utilizing the power of flowing or falling water. The Norse wheel is the oldest type known. Despite its name it probably originated in the Middle East, where the swift stream re...rotary engine
(Encyclopedia)rotary engine, internal-combustion engine whose cycle is similar to that of a piston engine, but which produces rotary motion directly without any conversion from reciprocating motion. A major problem...Stirling engine
(Encyclopedia)Stirling engine, an external combustion reciprocating engine having an enclosed working fluid that is alternately compressed and expanded to operate a piston, thus converting heat from a variety of so...internal-combustion engine
(Encyclopedia) CE5 Internal-combustion engines: In the four-stroke reciprocating engine (above), a mixture of fuel and air is taken into the chamber on the down-stroke of the piston, is compressed on the up-strok...octane number
(Encyclopedia)octane number, figure of merit representing the resistance of gasoline to premature detonation when exposed to heat and pressure in the combustion chamber of an internal-combustion engine. Such detona...Monitor and Merrimack
(Encyclopedia)Monitor and Merrimack, two American warships that fought the first engagement between ironclad ships. When, at the beginning of the Civil War, the Union forces abandoned the Norfolk Navy Yard at Ports...Browse by Subject
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