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Shepard, Alan Bartlett, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Shepard, Alan Bartlett, Jr., 1923–98, American astronaut, b. East Derry, N.H., grad. Annapolis, 1944. He served on a destroyer during World War II and later had extensive experience as a test pilot....

Young, Charles Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Young, Charles Augustus, 1834–1908, American astronomer, b. Hanover, N.H., grad. Dartmouth, 1853. He discovered the reversing layer of the solar atmosphere and proved the gaseous nature of the sun's...

thermometer

(Encyclopedia)thermometer, instrument for measuring temperature. Galileo and Sanctorius devised thermometers consisting essentially of a bulb with a tubular projection, the open end of which was immersed in a liqui...

inferior planet

(Encyclopedia)inferior planet, planet whose orbit lies inside that of the earth. There are two inferior planets, Mercury and Venus. They always seem to be close to the sun in the sky; the greatest elongation of Mer...

Vries, Adriaen de

(Encyclopedia)Vries, Adriaen de äˈdrēän də vrēs [key], c.1560–c.1626, Dutch sculptor. Having studied in Florence under Giovanni Bologna, he carried into Bohemia and Germany the influence of the Italian Rena...

Kütahya

(Encyclopedia)Kütahya kütäˈyä [key], city (1990 pop. 131,286), capital of Kütahya prov., W central Turkey. An agricultural market center producing sugar beets, fruit, and cotton. Iron, lignite, mercury, and c...

vermilion

(Encyclopedia)vermilion, vivid red pigment of durable quality. It is a chemical compound of mercury and sulfur and is known as red sulfide of mercury; it was formerly obtained by grinding pure cinnabar but is now c...

Freundlich, Erwin Finlay

(Encyclopedia)Freundlich, Erwin Finlay froindˈlĭkh [key], 1885–1964, German astronomer. Freundlich obtained a doctorate in mathematics at Göttingen, then joined the Royal Observatory at Berlin, where he worked...

gilding

(Encyclopedia)gilding, process of applying a thin layer of real or imitation gold to a surface. The process is employed on wood, metal, ivory, leather, paper, glass, porcelain, and fabrics and is used to embellish ...

Bouaké

(Encyclopedia)Bouaké or Bwake bwäˈkā, bwäkāˈ [key], town, central Côte d'Ivoire. It is a transp...