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quadrant, in technology

(Encyclopedia)quadrant, in technology, angle-measuring device based on a scale of 90°. It is sometimes confused with the sextant, a similar instrument based on a scale of 60°. The quadrant is rarely used today. ...

calliope, in music

(Encyclopedia)calliope, in music, an instrument also called steam organ or steam piano in which steam is forced through a series of whistles controlled by a keyboard. It is usually played mechanically, and its shri...

Campbell, John Francis

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, John Francis, 1822–85, Scottish Gaelic scholar. He is known for Popular Tales of the West Highlands (4 vol., 1860–62) and Leabhar na Feinne (1872), a collection of Gaelic folk ballads. A...

compass

(Encyclopedia)compass. 1 In mathematics, an instrument for making circles and measuring distances. Frequently called a pair of compasses, it consists of two metal legs with one end of each attached to a pivot to fo...

voltmeter

(Encyclopedia)voltmeter, instrument used to measure differences of electric potential, commonly called voltage, in volts or units that are multiples or fractions of volts. A voltmeter is usually combined with an am...

Cowell, Henry Dixon

(Encyclopedia)Cowell, Henry Dixon kouˈəl [key], 1897–1965, American composer and pianist, b. Menlo Park, Calif., largely self-educated, studied musicology in Berlin (1931–32). Cowell experimented with new mus...

pitch, in music

(Encyclopedia)pitch, in music, the position of a tone in the musical scale, today designated by a letter name and determined by the frequency of vibration of the source of the tone. Pitch is an attribute of every m...

Luray

(Encyclopedia)Luray lo͝orāˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 4,587), seat of Page co., N Va., in the Shenandoah valley, in a farm area; inc. 1812. There is light manufacturing and the town is the headquarters of Shenandoa...

Killeen

(Encyclopedia)Killeen kĭlēnˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 63,535), Bell co., central Tex., in a ranching and cotton region; inc. 1893. The city has varied manufacturing, but adjacent Fort Hood is the major source of e...

Giralda

(Encyclopedia)Giralda hērälˈdä [key], the famous tower adjoining the Cathedral of Seville, Spain. It was built (1163–84) to serve as minaret to the main mosque of Seville, on the site of which the cathedral n...