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Maxwell, James Clerk

(Encyclopedia)Maxwell, James Clerk klärk [key], 1831–79, great Scottish physicist. After a brilliant career at Edinburgh and Cambridge, where he won early recognition with mathematical papers, he was a professor...

Fermat, Pierre de

(Encyclopedia)Fermat, Pierre de pyĕr də fĕrmäˈ [key], 1601–65, French mathematician. A magistrate whose avocation was mathematics, Fermat is known as a founder of modern number theory and probability theory....

celestial mechanics

(Encyclopedia)celestial mechanics, the study of the motions of astronomical bodies as they move under the influence of their mutual gravitation. Celestial mechanics analyzes the orbital motions of planets, dwarf pl...

Kepler's laws

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Schematic representation of Kepler's second law: The areas ABF and A′B′F′ are equal and are swept out in equal intervals of time by a planet orbiting around the sun (at F). Kepler's laws...

Johnson, Philip Cortelyou

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Philip Cortelyou, 1906–2005, American architect, museum curator, and historian, b. Cleveland, grad. Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1927). One of the first Americans to study modern European architect...

Hebrides, the

(Encyclopedia)Hebrides, the hĕbˈrĭdēz [key], Western Isles, or Western Islands, group of more than 50 islands, W and NW Scotland. Less than a fifth of the islands are inhabited. The Outer Hebrides (sometimes al...

Chippendale, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Chippendale, Thomas chĭpˈəndālˌ [key], 1718–79, celebrated English cabinetmaker. His designs were so widely followed that a whole general category of 18th-century English furniture is commonly ...

West, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)West, Benjamin, 1738–1820, American historical painter who worked in England. He was born in Springfield, Pa., in a house that is now a memorial museum at Swarthmore College. After some instruction ...

McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham

(Encyclopedia)McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham məgläkˈlĭn [key], 1861–1947, American educator and historian, b. Beardstown, Ill., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.A., 1882; LL.B., 1885). He taught history at the Univ....

Maury, Matthew Fontaine

(Encyclopedia)Maury, Matthew Fontaine fŏntānˈ môrˈē [key], 1806–73, American hydrographer and naval officer, b. near Fredericksburg, Va. Appointed a midshipman in 1825, he saw varied sea duty until a stagec...