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Siemens, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Siemens, Sir William, 1823–83, English electrical engineer, b. Germany; brother of Ernst Werner von Siemens. Originally his name was Carl Wilhelm Siemens. After visiting England to introduce an elec...

silicon carbide

(Encyclopedia)silicon carbide, chemical compound, SiC, that forms extremely hard, dark, iridescent crystals that are insoluble in water and other common solvents. Widely used as an abrasive, it is marketed under su...

quinidine

(Encyclopedia)quinidine kwĭnˈĭdēnˌ [key], heart muscle relaxant used to maintain regular heart rhythm patterns. It is an alkaloid chemically similar to quinine and, like quinine, occurs naturally in some speci...

Volta, Alessandro, Conte

(Encyclopedia)Volta, Alessandro, Conte älĕs-sänˈdrō kônˈtā vôlˈtä [key], 1745–1827, Italian physicist. He was professor of physics at the Univ. of Pavia from 1779 and became famous for his work in elec...

voltaic cell

(Encyclopedia)voltaic cell, a simple device with which chemical energy is converted into electrical energy. Two dissimilar metals (e.g., copper and zinc) are immersed in an electrolyte (e.g., a dissolved sulfate). ...

Van Halen, Eddie

(Encyclopedia)Van Halen, Eddie (Edward Lodewijk Van Halen), 1955–2020, American rock musician and song writer, b. Amsterdam, Netherlands; his family moved to California when he was young. He and brother Alex form...

Sioux City

(Encyclopedia)Sioux City, city (1990 pop. 80,505), seat of Woodbury co., NW Iowa, at the junction of the Big Sioux and Floyd rivers with the Missouri; inc. 1857. It is a shipping, wholesale trade, and industrial ce...

Stark, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Stark, Johannes, 1874–1957, German physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Munich, 1897. From 1900 until he retired in 1922, Stark served short stints on the faculties of several academic institutions, including ...

tachometer

(Encyclopedia)tachometer tăkŏmˈətər [key], instrument that indicates the speed, usually in revolutions per minute, at which an engine shaft is rotating. Some tachometers, especially those used in automobiles, ...

Yoshino, Akira

(Encyclopedia)Yoshino, Akira, 1948–, Japanese chemist, Ph.D. Osaka Univ., 2005. He was a researcher at Asahi Kasei Corp. from 1972 to 2017, when he became a professor at Meijo Univ., Nagoya, Japan. Akira received...