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Ben Nevis

(Encyclopedia)Ben Nevis nēˈvĭs, nĕvˈĭs [key], peak, 4,411 ft (1,345 m) high, Highland, W Scotland, overlooking Glen Nevis; highest peak of Great Britain. Ben Nevis is the remnant of a geologically ancient vol...

Tompion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

Secchi, Pietro Angelo

(Encyclopedia)Secchi, Pietro Angelo pyĕˈtrō änˈjālō sĕkˈkē [key], 1818–78, Italian astronomer, a Jesuit priest. He was director of the observatory of the Gregorian Univ., Rome, from 1849. He is known es...

Castel Gandolfo

(Encyclopedia)Castel Gandolfo kästĕlˈ gändôlˈfō [key], town, in Latium, central Italy, in th...

Qeqertarsuaq

(Encyclopedia)Qeqertarsuaq gôᵺˈhoun [key], town (1996 pop. 1,095), Qeqertarsuaq dist., W Greenland, on Disko Island; founded in 1773. A fishing base and former whaling base, it has a geophysical observatory and...

Langley, Samuel Pierpont

(Encyclopedia)Langley, Samuel Pierpont, 1834–1906, American scientist, b. Roxbury, Mass., received only a high school education but continued his studies in science in Boston libraries. He became, in 1866, profes...

Tortosa

(Encyclopedia)Tortosa tōrtōˈsə [key], city (1990 pop. 29,970), Tarragona prov., NE Spain, in Catalonia, on the Ebro (Ebre) River. It has a fishing industry and light manufacturing, producing cement, clothing, a...

Hubble, Edwin Powell

(Encyclopedia)Hubble, Edwin Powell, 1889–1953, American astronomer, b. Marshfield, Mo. He did research (1914–17) at Yerkes Observatory, and joined (1919) the staff of Mt. Wilson Observatory, Pasadena, Calif., o...

Donati, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Donati, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä dōnäˈtē [key], 1826–73, Italian astronomer, b. Pisa. Serving as director of the Florence Observatory from 1864, he was a pioneer in the spec...

Airy, Sir George Biddell

(Encyclopedia)Airy, Sir George Biddell, 1801–92, English astronomer. The son of a poor farmer, he distinguished himself as Senior Wrangler at Cambridge, where he was elected fellow of Trinity College (1824) and a...