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band

(Encyclopedia)band, in music, a group of musicians playing principally on wind and percussion instruments, usually outdoors. Prior to the 18th cent., the term band was frequently applied in a generic sense to cover...

portraiture

(Encyclopedia)portraiture, the art of representing the physical or psychological likeness of a real or imaginary individual. The principal portrait media are painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography. From earl...

economics

(Encyclopedia)economics, study of how human beings allocate scarce resources to produce various commodities and how those commodities are distributed for consumption among the people in society (see distribution). ...

Virgin Islands

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Virgin Islands, group of about 100 small islands, West Indies, E of Puerto Rico. The islands are divided politically between the United States and Great Britain. Although constituting the weste...

teacher training

(Encyclopedia)teacher training, professional preparation of teachers, usually through formal course work and practice teaching. Although the concept of teaching as a profession is fairly new, most teachers in indus...

Scott, Winfield

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Winfield, 1786–1866, American general, b. near Petersburg, Va. Although vain and pompous (he was called “Old Fuss and Feathers”), Scott was also generous, fair-minded, considerate of h...

Einstein, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Einstein, Albert īnˈstīn [key], 1879–1955, American theoretical physicist, known for the formulation of the relativity theory, b. Ulm, Germany. He is recognized as one of the greatest physicists ...

ammonia

(Encyclopedia)ammonia, chemical compound, NH3, colorless gas that is about one half as dense as air at ordinary temperatures and pressures. It has a characteristic pungent, penetrating odor. Ammonia forms a minute ...

Bach, Johann Sebastian

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Johann Sebastian bäkh [key], 1685–1750, German composer and organist, b. Eisenach; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque musi...

Czech Republic

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika, or Czechia chĕkˈēə ...