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chronometer

(Encyclopedia)chronometer krənŏmˈətər [key], instrument for keeping highly accurate time, used especially in navigation. Before the advent of radio time signals it was the only device that provided the time ac...

Segovia, Andrés

(Encyclopedia)Segovia, Andrés ändrāsˈ sāgōˈvyä [key], 1893–1987, Spanish guitarist. Segovia studied at the Granada Musical Institute. He is famous for his transcriptions of early contrapuntal music, which...

Barrère, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Barrère, Georges zhôrzh bärĕrˈ [key], 1876–1944, French-American flutist and conductor, grad. Paris Conservatory, 1895. In Paris he was solo flutist (1897–1905) of the Colonne Concerts and th...

Wollaston, William Hyde

(Encyclopedia)Wollaston, William Hyde, 1766–1828, English scientist, M.D. Cambridge, 1793. His wide-ranging scientific achievements include the discovery (1802) of the dark lines (Fraunhofer lines) in the solar s...

mandolin

(Encyclopedia)mandolin mănˌdəlĭnˈ, mănˈdəlĭnˌ [key], musical instrument of the lute family, with a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, plucked with the fingers or with...

Marsyas

(Encyclopedia)Marsyas märˈsēəs [key], in Greek mythology, Phrygian satyr. He found the flute that Athena had invented but had thrown away. He became so skillful with the instrument that he challenged the lyre-p...

Hérault de Séchelles, Marie Jean

(Encyclopedia)Hérault de Séchelles, Marie Jean märēˈ zhäN ārōˈ də sāshĕlˈ [key], 1759–94, French revolutionary. A lawyer, he became a favorite of Queen Marie Antoinette, but nevertheless joined the r...

endoscope

(Encyclopedia)endoscope, any instrument used to look inside the body. Usually consisting of a fiber-optic tube attached to a viewing device, endoscopes are used to explore and biopsy such areas as the colon and the...

Rømer, Olaus

(Encyclopedia)Rømer, Olaus or Ole ōläˈo͝os, ōˈlə römˈər [key], 1644–1710, Danish astronomer. He is noted for his discovery that light travels at a definite speed and does not move through space instant...

barrel organ

(Encyclopedia)barrel organ, mechanical musical instrument requiring nothing but the regular rotary motion of a handle to keep it going. It probably originated at the beginning of the 18th cent., and was once used e...