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apparition

(Encyclopedia)apparition, spiritualistic manifestation of a person or object in which a form not actually present is seen with such intensity that belief in its reality is created. The ancient and widespread belief...

Kakutani, Shizuo

(Encyclopedia)Kakutani, Shizuo, 1911–2004, Japanese mathematician, b. Osaka, Japan, grad. Tohoko Univ, Ph.D. Princeton, 1941. Kakutani repatriated to Japan during World War II, but returned to Princeton in 1948 a...

absolute zero

(Encyclopedia)absolute zero, the zero point of the ideal gas temperature scale, denoted by 0 degrees on the Kelvin and Rankine temperature scales, which is equivalent to −273.15℃ and −459.67℉. For most gase...

kinetic art

(Encyclopedia)kinetic art, term referring to sculptured works that include motion as a significant dimension. The form was pioneered by Marcel Duchamp, Naum Gabo, and Alexander Calder. Kinetic art is either nonmech...

Wertheimer, Max

(Encyclopedia)Wertheimer, Max mäks vĕrtˈhīmər [key], 1880–1943, German psychologist, b. Prague. He studied at the universities of Prague, Berlin, and Würzburg (Ph.D., 1904). His original researches, while h...

weight lifting

(Encyclopedia)weight lifting, international sport, also a training technique for athletes in other sports. From the earliest times men have lifted weights as a test of strength. Long popular as a competitive sport ...

buoy

(Encyclopedia)buoy boi, bo͞oˈē [key], float anchored in navigable waters to mark channels and indicate dangers to navigation (isolated rocks, mine fields, cables, and the like). The shape, color, number, and mar...

Cameron, James

(Encyclopedia)Cameron, James, 1954–, Canadian motion-picture director and screenwriter, b. Kapuskasing, Ont. Beginning as a screenwriter and then art director, he first directed in 1981. His science-fiction block...

canon, in music

(Encyclopedia)canon, in music, a type of counterpoint employing the strictest form of imitation. All the voices of a canon have the same melody, beginning at different times. Successive entrances may be at the same...

center of mass

(Encyclopedia)center of mass, the point at which all the mass of a body may be considered to be concentrated in analyzing its motion. The center of mass of a sphere of uniform density coincides with the center of t...