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omen

(Encyclopedia)omen, sign or augury believed to foreshadow the future. Almost any occurrence can be interpreted as an omen. The typical omen was a natural phenomenon, such as a meteor, an eclipse, or the flight of b...

Secchi, Pietro Angelo

(Encyclopedia)Secchi, Pietro Angelo pyĕˈtrō änˈjālō sĕkˈkē [key], 1818–78, Italian astronomer, a Jesuit priest. He was director of the observatory of the Gregorian Univ., Rome, from 1849. He is known es...

Brahic, André Fernand

(Encyclopedia)Brahic, André Fernand, 1942–2016, French astrophysicist, b. Paris. He was introduced to astrophysics by Evry Schatzman, a leading French theoretician, and obtained his doctorate from the Univ. of P...

Gallup, George Horace

(Encyclopedia)Gallup, George Horace, 1901–84, American public opinion statistician, originator of the Gallup poll, b. Jefferson, Iowa. After teaching journalism at Drake Univ. (1929–31) and at Northwestern Univ...

Josephson, Brian David

(Encyclopedia)Josephson, Brian David, 1940–, British physicist, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1964. After several postdoctoral appointments, he joined the faculty at Cambridge in 1974. Josephson was co-recipient, with Leo Esa...

microwave

(Encyclopedia)microwave, electromagnetic wave having a frequency range from 1,000 megahertz (MHz) to 300,000 MHz, corresponding to a wavelength range from 300 mm (about 12 in.) to 1 mm (about 0.04 in.). Like light ...

Davidson, George

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, George, 1825–1911, American geographer and astronomer, b. England. From 1845 to 1895 he was on the staff of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. He charted (1850–60) the U.S. Pacific coas...

Schuster, Sir Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Schuster, Sir Arthur, 1851–1934, English physicist, b. Germany. At Owens College, Manchester Univ., he was professor of applied mathematics (1881–88) and professor of physics (1888–1907). He is ...

RFID

(Encyclopedia)RFID: see radio-frequency identification. ...

bias, in electricity

(Encyclopedia)bias, a voltage, current, or other input applied to a device or system as a reference or to set its conditions of operation. A bias is usually steady but may vary with time, usually within a fixed and...