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norm

(Encyclopedia)norm, authoritative rule or standard by which something is judged and on that basis approved or disapproved. Examples of norms include standards of right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, and truth and ...

Mansfield, Michael Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Mansfield, Michael Joseph, 1903–2001, U.S. senator (1953–77), b. New York City. After working (1922–31) as a mining engineer, he taught (1933–42) history at Montana State Univ. before serving ...

Kirchhoff, Gustav Robert

(Encyclopedia)Kirchhoff, Gustav Robert go͝osˈtäf rōˈbĕrt kĭrkhˈhôf [key], 1824–87, German physicist. He served as professor of physics at the universities of Breslau (1850–54), Heidelberg (1854–74), ...

Núñez Vela, Blasco

(Encyclopedia)Núñez Vela, Blasco bläˈskō no͞oˈnyās vāˈlä [key], d. 1546, first viceroy of Peru (1544–46). Sent to replace Vaca de Castro and to enforce the New Laws of Bartolomé de Las Casas, he had a...

symmetry

(Encyclopedia)symmetry, generally speaking, a balance or correspondence between various parts of an object; the term symmetry is used both in the arts and in the sciences. In art and design, it is often used in a s...

Murray, Anna Pauline "Pauli"

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Pauli, 1910–1985, American lawyer, priest, and activist, b. Baltimore, S.J.D. Yale University, 1965, MDiv, General Theological Seminary, 1976....

Galileo

(Encyclopedia)Galileo (Galileo Galilei) gălˌĭlēˈō; gälēlĕˈō gälēlĕˈē [key], 1564–1642, great Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. By his persistent investigation of natural laws he la...

husband and wife

(Encyclopedia)husband and wife, the legal aspects of the married state (for the sociological aspects, see marriage). The former Anglo-American law of marriage was chiefly characterized by the view that husband an...

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; ...

Hooker, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hooker, Richard, 1554?–1600, English theologian and clergyman of the Church of England. He studied and lectured at Oxford and preached at Drayton-Beauchamp, Buckinghamshire; at the Temple Church, Lo...