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Godoy, Manuel de

(Encyclopedia)Godoy, Manuel de mänwĕlˈ dā gōᵺoiˈ [key], 1767–1851, Spanish statesman. An army officer, he won the favor of Queen María Luisa and rose rapidly at the court of Charles IV. The king made him...

laser

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ordinary light sources produce incoherent light, while a laser produces a beam of coherent light. laser [acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation], device for the cr...

waveguide

(Encyclopedia)waveguide, device that controls the propagation of an electromagnetic wave so that the wave is forced to follow a path defined by the physical structure of the guide. Waveguides, which are useful chie...

De la Rue, Warren

(Encyclopedia)De la Rue, Warren dĕlˈəro͞o, dĕləro͞oˈ [key], 1815–89, British scientist and inventor. Especially noted as an astronomer, he was a pioneer in celestial photography. He adapted the wet-plate ...

radiation

(Encyclopedia)radiation rāˌdēāˈshən [key], term applied to the emission and transmission of energy through space or through a material medium and also to the radiated energy itself. In its widest sense the te...

Zephaniah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Zephaniah zĕfˌənīˈə [key], prophetic book of the Bible. The prophet, who lived in the reign (c.640–609 b.c.) of King Josiah of Judah, traces his genealogy to King Hezekiah. Zephaniah denounces...

Perrine, Charles Dillon

(Encyclopedia)Perrine, Charles Dillon pərīnˈ [key], 1867–1951, American astronomer, b. Steubenville, Ohio. He was on the staff of Lick Observatory (1893–1909) and was (1909–36) director of the Argentine Na...

Lockyer, Sir Joseph Norman

(Encyclopedia)Lockyer, Sir Joseph Norman lŏkˈyər [key], 1836–1920, English astronomer, educated on the Continent. One of the first to make a spectroscopic examination of the sun and stars, he devised (1868), i...

sound

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Sound waves: An air pressure wave radiating outward from a loudspeaker is perceived as sound. sound, any disturbance that travels through an elastic medium such as air, ground, or water to be ...

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