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Doddridge, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Doddridge, Philip, 1702–51, English nonconformist minister and noted hymn writer. His Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul (1745) has been much translated. His many hymns include “Awake, My S...

kinetic-molecular theory of gases

(Encyclopedia)kinetic-molecular theory of gases, physical theory that explains the behavior of gases on the basis of the following assumptions: (1) Any gas is composed of a very large number of very tiny particles ...

Du Bois-Reymond, Emil

(Encyclopedia)Du Bois-Reymond, Emil āˈmēl dü bwä-rāmôNˈ [key], 1818–96, German physiologist of French descent. A pupil and successor (after 1858) of Johannes Müller at the Univ. of Berlin, he is known es...

Schultze, Max Johann Sigismund

(Encyclopedia)Schultze, Max Johann Sigismund mäks yōˈhän zēˈgĭsmo͝ond sho͝olˈtsə [key], 1825–74, German biologist, director of the Anatomical Institute at Bonn from 1859. He established that the cells ...

Huxley, Sir Andrew Fielding

(Encyclopedia)Huxley, Sir Andrew Fielding, 1917–2012, British physiologist, educated at University College, London; grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley, half-brother of Sir Julian Huxley and Aldous Huxley. He finishe...

compressor

(Encyclopedia)compressor, machine that decreases the volume of air or other gas by the application of pressure. Compressor types range from the simple hand pump and the piston-equipped compressor used to inflate ti...

enkephalin

(Encyclopedia)enkephalin ĕnkĕfˈəlĭn [key], one of several naturally occurring morphinelike substances (endorphins) released from nerve endings of the central nervous system and the adrenal medulla. They act as...

epilepsy

(Encyclopedia)epilepsy, a chronic disorder of cerebral function characterized by periodic convulsive seizures. There are many conditions that have epileptic seizures. Sudden discharge of excess electrical activity,...

Henry's law

(Encyclopedia)Henry's law, chemical law stating that the amount of a gas that dissolves in a liquid is proportional to the partial pressure of the gas over the liquid, provided no chemical reaction takes place betw...

Hodgkin, Sir Alan Lloyd

(Encyclopedia)Hodgkin, Sir Alan Lloyd, 1914–98, English biophysicist. For their work in analyzing the electrical and chemical events in nerve-cell discharge, he and Andrew Huxley shared with Sir John Eccles the 1...