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actinometer

(Encyclopedia)actinometer ăkˌtənŏmˈətər [key], instrument used to measure the heating power of radiation. Actinometers are used chiefly in meteorology to measure solar radiation as transmitted directly by th...

stamp tax

(Encyclopedia)stamp tax, method of collecting duties on certain transactions by means of a validating stamp attached to the taxable instrument, which may be a judicial act, a commercial document, a transfer of prop...

Rittenhouse, David

(Encyclopedia)Rittenhouse, David, 1732–96, American astronomer and instrument maker, b. near Germantown, Pa., self-educated. A clockmaker by trade, he developed great skill in the making of mathematical instrumen...

periscope

(Encyclopedia)periscope pĕrˈĭskōp [key] [Gr.,=view around], instrument to enable a person to see objects not in his direct line of vision or concealed by some intervening body. Its essential parts are a tube, p...

Devils Tower National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Devils Tower National Monument, 1,347 acres (546 hectares), overlooking the Belle Fourche River, NE Wyo.; it was the first designated U.S. national monument (1906). Devils Tower, 865 ft (264 m) high a...

Padre Island

(Encyclopedia)Padre Island pädˈrē, pădˈrē [key], low, sandy island, c.115 mi (185 km) long, less than 3 mi (4.8 km) wide, S Tex. It is characterized by large, irregular sand dunes, sparse vegetation, and a st...

Calisher, Hortense

(Encyclopedia)Calisher, Hortense kălˈĭshər [key], 1911–2009, American author, b. New York City, grad. Barnard College, 1932. Her novels are difficult to categorize, blending deft character analysis with compl...

Scott, George C.

(Encyclopedia)Scott, George C. (George Campbell Scott), 1927–99, American actor, b. Wise, Va. Fiery and intense, Scott played his first major roles in Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and As You Like It for t...

rose of Jericho

(Encyclopedia)rose of Jericho, common name for two plants belonging to different families in the plant kingdom. One, an annual desert plant (Anastatica hierochuntica) of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; must...

Sirk, Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Sirk, Douglas, 1900–87, German-American film director, b. Hamburg as Claus Detlef Sierck. A successful director in German theater and film, he fled the Nazi regime in 1937. Two years later he emigra...