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Dyck, Christopher van

(Encyclopedia)Dyck, Christopher van vän dīkˈ [key], 1601–c.1672, German designer and maker of printing type, who worked in Amsterdam. Types that he designed were used by the Elzevir firm. His roman typeface wa...

Dana, John Cotton

(Encyclopedia)Dana, John Cotton, 1856–1929, American librarian and museum director, b. Woodstock, Vt. He was a lawyer and a civil engineer before joining the staff of the Denver (Colo.) Public Library in 1889, wh...

polychlorinated biphenyl

(Encyclopedia)polychlorinated biphenyl or PCB, any of a group of organic compounds originally widely used in industrial processes but later found to be dangerous environmental pollutants. Polychlorinated biphenyl i...

Paulist Fathers

(Encyclopedia)Paulist Fathers, American society of Roman Catholic priests, officially named the Society of Missionary Priests of St. Paul the Apostle (Latin abbr., C.S.P.). It was founded (1858) by Isaac Hecker, wh...

optical sensing

(Encyclopedia)optical sensing, in general, any method by which information that occurs as variations in the intensity, or some other property, of light is translated into an electric signal. This is usually accompl...

Subiaco

(Encyclopedia)Subiaco so͞obyäˈkō [key], town (1991 pop. 9,004), Latium, central Italy, in the Apennines, at the confluence of the Aniene and the Acquaviva rivers. It is an agricultural, industrial, and tourist ...

Sparks

(Encyclopedia)Sparks, city (1990 pop. 53,367), Washoe co., W Nev., just E of Reno; inc. 1905. The Southern Pacific RR was the major employer until the dieselization of railroad engines forced the closing (1957) of ...

Leiria

(Encyclopedia)Leiria lārˈyə [key], town (1991 pop. 27,531), capital of Leiria dist., W central Portugal, in Beira Litoral. It is an agricultural trade center producing leather goods and cement. There Alfonso I e...

Jenson, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Jenson or Janson, Nicolas both: nēkôläˈ zhäNsôNˈ [key], d. c.1480, Venetian printer, b. France. Jenson studied printing with Gutenberg at Mainz for three years. He was one of the first to desig...

Laon

(Encyclopedia)Laon läN [key], commercial town (1990 pop. 28,670), capital of Aisne dept., N France. It has forges, a printing plant, and factories that make heating equipment and metal goods. Situated on a rocky h...