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sextant

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Sextant sextant, instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun or another celestial body; such measurements can then be used to determine the observer's geographical position or for other n...

word processing

(Encyclopedia)word processing, use of a computer program or a dedicated hardware and software package to write, edit, format, and print a document. Text is most commonly entered using a keyboard similar to a typewr...

Dodecanese

(Encyclopedia)Dodecanese dōdĕkˌənēsˈ, –nēz, dōˌdĕk– [key], Gr. Dhodhekánisos, island...

Peck, Gregory

(Encyclopedia)Peck, Gregory, 1916–2003, American movie actor, b. La Jolla, Calif., as Eldred Gregory Peck. Peck studied at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse and debuted on Broadway in The Morning Star (1942) and ...

Webern, Anton von

(Encyclopedia)Webern, Anton von änˈtōn fən vāˈbərn [key], 1883–1945, Austrian composer and conductor; pupil of Arnold Schoenberg. He conducted theater orchestras in Prague and in various German cities unti...

equatorial coordinate system

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Equatorial coordinate system equatorial coordinate system, the most commonly used astronomical coordinate system for indicating the positions of stars or other celestial objects on the celesti...

Wright brothers

(Encyclopedia)Wright brothers, American airplane inventors and aviation pioneers. Orville Wright 1871–1948, was born in Dayton, Ohio, and Wilbur Wright, 1867–1912, near New Castle, Ind. Their interest in aviati...

solar time

(Encyclopedia)solar time, time defined by the position of the sun. The solar day is the time it takes for the sun to return to the same meridian in the sky. Local solar time is measured by a sundial. When the cente...

kaleidoscope

(Encyclopedia)kaleidoscope kəlīˈdəskōp [key], optical instrument that uses mirrors to produce changing symmetrical patterns. Invented by the Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster in 1816, the device is usually...

Babism

(Encyclopedia)Babism bäˈbĭzəm [key], system of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz. Influenced by the Shaykhi Shiite theology that viewed the Twelve Imams as incarnations of the Div...