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Aldus Manutius

(Encyclopedia)Aldus Manutius älˈdō mäno͞oˈtsyō [key], 1450–1515, Venetian printer. He was educated as a humanistic scholar and became tutor to several of the great ducal families. One of them, the Pio fami...

Clarke, Arthur C.

(Encyclopedia)Clarke, Arthur C. (Sir Arthur Charles Clarke), 1917–2008, British science fiction writer. During World War II he served as a radar instructor and aviator in the Royal Air Force. After the war he obt...

Eriugena, John Scotus

(Encyclopedia)Eriugena or Erigena, John Scotus skōˈtəs ĕryo͞oˈjĭnə; ĕrĭjˈ– ĕrēˈ– [key] [Lat. Scotus=Irish, Eriugena=born in Ireland], c.810–c.877, scholastic philosopher, born in Ireland. About ...

anxiety

(Encyclopedia)anxiety, anticipatory tension or vague dread persisting in the absence of a specific threat. In contrast to fear, which is a realistic reaction to actual danger, anxiety is generally related to an unc...

histology

(Encyclopedia)histology hĭstŏlˈəjē [key], study of the groups of specialized cells called tissues that are found in most multicellular plants and animals. Histologists study the organization of tissues at all ...

geyser

(Encyclopedia)geyser gīˈzər [key] [Icel.], hot spring from which water and steam are ejected periodically to heights ranging from a few to several hundred feet. Notable geysers are found in Iceland, New Zealand,...

geodesy

(Encyclopedia)geodesy jēŏdˈĭsē [key] or geodetic surveying, theory and practice of determining the position of points on the earth's surface and the dimensions of areas so large that the curvature of the earth...

gamma radiation

(Encyclopedia)gamma radiation, high-energy photons emitted as one of the three types of radiation resulting from natural radioactivity. It is the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation, with a very short ...

motorcycle

(Encyclopedia)motorcycle, motor vehicle whose design is based on the bicycle. The German inventor Gottlieb Daimler is generally credited with building the first practical motorcycle in 1885. The motorcycle did not ...

Oakland

(Encyclopedia)Oakland, city (1990 pop. 372,242), seat of Alameda co., W Calif., on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1852. Together with San Francisco and San Jose, the city comprises the fourth largest m...