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period, in physics

(Encyclopedia)period, in physics: see harmonic motion; wave. ...

may, in botany

(Encyclopedia)may, name for several plants; in England, particularly the hawthorn. See also mayflower. ...

quadrant, in technology

(Encyclopedia)quadrant, in technology, angle-measuring device based on a scale of 90°. It is sometimes confused with the sextant, a similar instrument based on a scale of 60°. The quadrant is rarely used today. ...

scale, in cartography

(Encyclopedia)scale, in cartography, the ratio of the distance between two points on a map to the real distance between the two corresponding points portrayed. The scale may be expressed in three ways: numerically,...

nimbus, in meteorology

(Encyclopedia)nimbus, in meteorology, low, dark, formless cloud covering the entire sky, from which rain or snow is steadily falling. The term is usually applied to any cloud from which rain descends. Modifications...

conglomerate, in business

(Encyclopedia)conglomerate, corporation whose asset growth, often very rapid, comes largely through the acquisition of, or merger with, other firms whose products are largely unrelated to each other or to that of t...

Proconsul, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)Proconsul, extinct group of apes. Proconsul fossils have been discovered in E Africa. It had a mixture of ape and Old World monkey characteristics, and lived from 23 to 25 million years ago. ...

fly, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)fly, name commonly used for any of a variety of winged insects, but properly restricted to members of the order Diptera, the true flies, which includes the housefly, gnat, midge, mosquito, and tsetse ...

Lamont, Johann von

(Encyclopedia)Lamont, Johann von yōˈhän fən läˈmônt [key], 1805–79, Scottish-German astronomer and magnetician, b. Scotland. In 1817 he went to Ratisbon to study at the seminary. He remained in Germany to ...

bass, in music

(Encyclopedia)bass bās [key], in musical harmony, the part of lowest pitch. The term is used for the lowest-pitched male voice and for instruments of low pitch, such as bass clarinet, bass drum, bassoon (bass oboe...