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San Francisco Symphony

(Encyclopedia)San Francisco Symphony, orchestra founded 1911. It has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall since 1980. Henry Hadley, the original music director, was followed by Alfred Hertz (1915–30), ...

Beeckman, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Beeckman, Isaac bākˈmən [key], 1588–1637, Dutch physicist. An early proponent of mathematical reasoning and experimental verification in natural philosophy, he contributed to the modern conceptio...

Balthus

(Encyclopedia)Balthus bôlˈthəs, bălˈ– [key], 1908–2001, Polish-French painter, b. Paris as Count Balthasar Klossowski de Rola. Balthus is sometimes regarded as one of the most important figurative painters...

pyroclastic flow

(Encyclopedia)pyroclastic flow, turbulent, fluidized mixture of rock, volcanic ash, and hot gas that moves like an avalanche away from a volcanic eruption. A pyroclastic flow may contain a mix of rock fragments ran...

Vienne, town, France

(Encyclopedia)Vienne, town (1990 pop. 30,386), Isère dept., SE France, on the Rhône River. It is a farm trade center with textile, metallurgical, and footwear industries. The capital of the Allobroges, Vienne (th...

Beauvais

(Encyclopedia)Beauvais bōvāˈ [key], town, capital of Oise dept., N France. Tractors, ceramic tiles, text...

Stoddart, James Fraser

(Encyclopedia)Stoddart, James Fraser, 1942–, British chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1966. He began his career at Sheffield Univ., England, in 1970, then moved to Birmingham Univ., England, in 1990, the Univ. ...

Parti Québécois

(Encyclopedia)Parti Québécois pärtē kēbĕkwäˈ [key] (PQ), provincial political party committed to the independence of Quebec. Founded in 1968, it soon became a force in provincial elections. In 1976, led by ...

Du Pont, Pete

(Encyclopedia) Du Pont, Pete (Pierre Samuel du Pont IV), 1935-2021, Wilmington, Del, Princeton Univ. (Mech. Engr., 1956); Harvard Law School (J.D., 1963). Du Pont wa...

Du Pont, Samuel Francis

(Encyclopedia)Du Pont, Samuel Francis, 1803–65, American naval officer, b. Bergen Point, N.J.; grandson of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours. Appointed a midshipman in 1815, he saw his first active duty in the Med...