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mechanics

(Encyclopedia)mechanics, branch of physics concerned with motion and the forces that tend to cause it; it includes study of the mechanical properties of matter, such as density, elasticity, and viscosity. Mechanics...

Needham, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Needham, Joseph nēdˈəm [key], 1900–1995, British biochemist, historian of science, and sinologist, b. London. He had a lifelong association with Cambridge, where he was educated (Ph.D. 1924), tau...

Leiden, University of

(Encyclopedia)Leiden, University of, at Leiden, the Netherlands; founded 1575 by William the Silent, Prince of Orange. It became a state institution in the 19th cent. It has faculties of theology, law, medicine, sc...

Brock University

(Encyclopedia)Brock University, at St. Catharines, Ont., Canada; coeducational; founded 1964. It has faculties of humanities, social science, science and mathematics, education, business, and physical education and...

Birmingham University

(Encyclopedia)Birmingham University, at Birmingham, England; founded 1900. It has faculties of arts, science, engineering, medicine and dentistry, commerce and social science, law, and education and continuing stud...

National Academy of Sciences

(Encyclopedia)National Academy of Sciences, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., a private organization of leading American scientists and engineers devoted to the furtherance of science and its use for the gener...

Mayo-Smith, Richmond

(Encyclopedia)Mayo-Smith, Richmond, 1854–1901, American statistician, b. Troy, Ohio, grad. Amherst, 1875. After graduation he studied for two years in Germany. From 1877 to 1901 he taught at Columbia. He is best ...

Gagarin, Yuri Alekseyevich

(Encyclopedia)Gagarin, Yuri Alekseyevich yo͞oˈrē əlyĭksyāˈyəvĭch gägäˈrĭn [key], 1934–68, Russian astronaut (cosmonaut), b. near Gzhatsk, RSFSR. He was the first in history to be rocketed into orbita...

More, Henry

(Encyclopedia)More, Henry, 1614–87, English philosopher, one of the foremost representatives of the school of Cambridge Platonists. His writings emphasized the mystical and theosophic phases of that philosophy, a...

Leonov, Aleksei Arkhipovich

(Encyclopedia)Leonov, Aleksei Arkhipovich ŭlˌyĭksyāˈ ärkhˌyĭpôˈvyĭch [key], 1934–2019, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut and military officer. While serving as copilot of Voskhod 2 (Mar. 18–19, 1964), he beca...