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Watt, James

(Encyclopedia)Watt, James, 1736–1819, Scottish inventor. While working at the Univ. of Glasgow as an instrument maker, Watt was asked to repair a model of Thomas Newcomen's steam engine. He devised improvements t...

watt

(Encyclopedia)watt [for James Watt], abbr. W, unit of power, or work done per unit time, equal to 1 joule per second. It is used as a measure of electrical and mechanical power. One watt is the amount of power that...

Watt's Dyke

(Encyclopedia)Watt's Dyke: see Offa's Dyke.

Nicholson, James

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, James, c.1736–1804, American naval officer, b. Chestertown, Md.; brother of Samuel Nicholson. During the American Revolution, Nicholson, appointed (1776) a captain in the Continental navy...

Roebuck, John

(Encyclopedia)Roebuck, John, 1718–94, English physician, chemist, and inventor. He acted as a chemical consultant to local industries in Birmingham and invented the lead chamber process of manufacturing sulfuric ...

power, in physics

(Encyclopedia)power, in physics, time rate of doing work or of producing or expending energy. The unit of power based on the English units of measurement is the horsepower, devised for describing mechanical power b...

James, Jesse

(Encyclopedia)James, Jesse (Woodson), 1847–82, American outlaw, b. Clay co., Mo. At the age of 15 he joined the Confederate guerrilla band led by William Quantrill and participated in the brutal and bloody civil ...

James, William

(Encyclopedia)James, William, 1842–1910, American philosopher, b. New York City, M.D. Harvard, 1869; son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James and brother of the novelist Henry James. In 1872 he joined the ...

Dean, James

(Encyclopedia)Dean, James (James Byron Dean), 1931–55, American film actor, b. Marion, Ind. After a few stage and television roles, Dean was chosen to play the moody, rebellious son in the film East of Eden (1953...

Usher, James

(Encyclopedia)Usher, James: see Ussher, James.