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dimension, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)dimension, in mathematics, number of parameters or coordinates required locally to describe points in a mathematical object (usually geometric in character). For example, the space we inhabit is three...

Vandenberg Air Force Base

(Encyclopedia)Vandenberg Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 3,456 acres (1,399 hectares), SW Calif., near Lompoc; chief Pacific coast launch site for military satellites, and headquarters of the U.S. Space...

Pereira, I. Rice

(Encyclopedia)Pereira, I. Rice (Irene Rice Pereira) pərāˈrə [key], 1907–71, American painter, b. Chelsea, Mass. In 1935, Pereira helped found the Federal Art Project design laboratory and taught there for sev...

Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich

(Encyclopedia)Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich kənstəntyēnˈ ĕdwärˈdəvĭchˈ tsēōlkŏvˈskē [key], 1857–1935, Russian inventor and rocket expert. He lost his hearing in childhood, and, as he could no...

weightlessness

(Encyclopedia)weightlessness, the absence of any observable effects of gravitation. This condition is experienced by an observer when he and his immediate surroundings are allowed to move freely in the local gravit...

Stefansson, Vilhjalmur

(Encyclopedia)Stefansson, Vilhjalmur vĭlˈhyoulmər stĕfˈənsən [key], 1879–1962, Arctic explorer, b. Canada, of Icelandic parents, educated at the Univ. of North Dakota, the State Univ. of Iowa, and Harvard....

South Shetland Islands

(Encyclopedia)South Shetland Islands, barren, snow-covered archipelago off N Antarctic Peninsula, W Antarctica; Livingston and King George islands are the largest. The South Shetlands were bases for sealers in the ...

Huntsville, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Huntsville. 1 City (2020 pop. 215,006), seat of Madison co., N Ala.; inc. 1811. A major center for U.S. space research, Huntsville is the site of the ...

Merritt Island

(Encyclopedia)Merritt Island, c.40 mi (60 km) long and c.6 mi (10 km) wide, E Fla., separated from the mainland by Indian River (a lagoon) and from the Canaveral peninsula on the east by Banana River (a lagoon). It...

Saint Vincent, Cape

(Encyclopedia)Saint Vincent, Cape, Port. Cabo de São Vicente, high and rocky promontory at the southwestern extremity of Portugal. Several historic sea battles were fought nearby, the most notable in 1797, when th...