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Thomson, Sir Joseph John

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Sir Joseph John, 1856–1940, English physicist. From 1884 to 1919 he was Cavendish professor of experimental physics at Cambridge. J. J. Thomson was one of the founders of modern physics. Wi...

Veblen, Thorstein

(Encyclopedia)Veblen, Thorstein thôrˈstīn vĕbˈlən [key], 1857–1929, American economist and social critic, b. Cato Township, Wis. Of Norwegian parentage, he spent his first 17 years in Norwegian-American far...

vortex

(Encyclopedia)vortex vôrˈtĕks [key], mass of fluid in whirling or rotary motion. To simplify the analysis, vortex motion usually describes motions in a frictionless fluid. In such cases the absence of friction w...

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; ...

Sacchi, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Sacchi, Andrea ändrĕˈä säkˈkē [key], 1599–1661, Italian baroque painter, b. Rome. He studied in Rome and in Bologna under Francesco Albani. His masterpiece, an allegory of Divine Wisdom (c.16...

Šafařik, Pavel Josef

(Encyclopedia)Šafařik, Pavel Josef päˈvĕl yôˈzĕf shäˈfär-zhēk [key], 1795–1861, Czech philologist and archaeologist; his name is also spelled Schafarik and Schafřík. Šafařik advanced the theory th...

Stefan, Josef

(Encyclopedia)Stefan, Josef yōˈzĕf shtĕfˈän [key], 1835–93, Austrian physicist. At the Univ. of Vienna he became a professor of physics and later director of the Physical Institute. From his observations on...

Schimper, Karl Friedric

(Encyclopedia)Schimper, Karl Friedric shĭmˈpər [key], 1803–67, German botanist. He did important work in plant morphology and originated the theory, called phyllotaxis, that there is a fixed order to the arran...

Kirkwood gaps

(Encyclopedia)Kirkwood gaps, regions in the asteroid belt within which few asteroids are found. Astronomer Daniel Kirkwood first observed (1886) that few asteroids had an orbital period close to 1⁄2, 1⁄3, or 2...

Langevin, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Langevin, Paul läNzhəvăNˈ [key], 1872–1946, French physicist and chemist. He was professor of experimental physics at the Collège de France from 1909 and at the École municipale de Physique e...
 

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