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Papin, Denis

(Encyclopedia)Papin, Denis dənēˈ päpăNˈ [key], 1647–1712?, French physicist and inventor. He was an assistant of Christian Huygens and of Robert Boyle and was professor of mathematics at the Univ. of Marbur...

Jersey cattle

(Encyclopedia)Jersey cattle, breed of dairy cattle native to the island of Jersey in the English Channel. Jerseys, smallest of the dairy breeds, are usually a shade of fawn or cream, although darker shades are comm...

Keeling, Charles David

(Encyclopedia)Keeling, Charles David, 1928–2005, U.S. geochemist, b. Scranton, Pa., Ph.D. Northwestern Univ., 1954. As a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (1953–56), he developed a s...

Stradella, Alessandro

(Encyclopedia)Stradella, Alessandro älĕs-sänˈdrō strädĕlˈlä [key], 1642?–1682, Italian composer of operas, cantatas, oratorios, and instrumental music. Few facts but many legends exist concerning his lif...

radioactive isotope

(Encyclopedia)radioactive isotope or radioisotope, natural or artificially created isotope of a chemical element having an unstable nucleus that decays, emitting alpha, beta, or gamma rays until stability is reache...

nail, in carpentry

(Encyclopedia)nail, metal pin driven by force applied at one end into pieces of material, usually wood, to join them together. The strength of a nailed joint depends on the properties of the wood, the type and numb...

Marschall von Bieberstein, Adolf, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Marschall von Bieberstein, Adolf, Baron äˈdôlf märˈshäl fən bēˈbərshtīn [key], 1842–1912, German diplomat. After years in the administrative service of Baden and as a member of its legisl...

papaverine

(Encyclopedia)papaverine pəpăvˈərēn [key], alkaloid found in opium that acts as a muscle relaxant and vasodilator. The drug relaxes the smooth muscle of the larger blood vessels and is used to increase the blo...

Hellenistic civilization

(Encyclopedia)Hellenistic civilization. The conquests of Alexander the Great spread Hellenism immediately over the Middle East and far into Asia. After his death in 323 b.c., the influence of Greek civilization con...

Lane, Franklin Knight

(Encyclopedia)Lane, Franklin Knight, 1864–1921, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1913–20), b. near Charlottetown, P.E.I., Canada. Raised in California, he later studied law and practiced in San Francisco, where ...