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mechanics

(Encyclopedia)mechanics, branch of physics concerned with motion and the forces that tend to cause it; it includes study of the mechanical properties of matter, such as density, elasticity, and viscosity. Mechanics...

Schliemann, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Schliemann, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh shlēˈmän [key], 1822–90, German archaeologist, discoverer of the ruins of Troy. He accumulated a fortune in the indigo trade and as a military contractor and reti...

Biedermeier

(Encyclopedia)Biedermeier bēˈdərmīər [key], name applied, at first in a joking spirit, to a period of European culture and a style of furniture, decoration, and art originating in Germany early in the 19th cen...

counterpoint

(Encyclopedia)counterpoint, in music, the art of combining melodies each of which is independent though forming part of a homogeneous texture. The term derives from the Latin for “point against point,” meaning ...

Old Catholics

(Encyclopedia)Old Catholics, Christian denomination established by German Catholics who separated themselves from the Roman Catholic Church when they rejected (1870) the decrees of the First Vatican Council, especi...

Brethren

(Encyclopedia)Brethren, German Baptist religious group. They were popularly known as Dunkards, Dunkers, or Tunkers, from the German for “to dip,” referring to their method of baptizing. The Brethren evolved fro...

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 ...

Leipzig

(Encyclopedia)Leipzig līpˈtsĭkh [key], city (1994 pop. 490,850), Saxony, E central Germany, at the confluence of the Pleisse, White Elster, and Parthe rivers. Originally a Slavic settlement called Lipsk, Leipz...

complexity

(Encyclopedia)complexity, in science, field of study devoted to the process of self-organization. The basic concept of complexity is that all things tend to organize themselves into patterns, e.g., ant colonies, im...

Stuart, Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Stuart, Gilbert, 1755–1828, American portrait painter, b. North Kingstown, R.I., best known for his portraits of George Washington. Having shown an early talent for drawing, he became the pupil of C...