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Swan, Sir Joseph Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Swan, Sir Joseph Wilson, 1828–1914, English chemist and physicist. He made an incandescent lamp using a carbon filament (1860), 20 years before Edison's lamp. Noted for important contributions to ph...

swan

(Encyclopedia)swan, common name for a large aquatic bird of both hemispheres, related to ducks and geese. It has a long, gracefully curved neck and an extremely long, convoluted trachea which makes possible its far...

Wilson, Sir Angus

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Sir Angus, 1913–91, English novelist, b. South Africa. As a novelist, he attempted to delineate a society in which traditional values have lost their force and human relationships are corrup...

Cook, Sir Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Cook, Sir Joseph, 1860–1947, Australian statesman, b. England. A leader of the Free Trade party, he served as prime minister (1913–14) and later as minister of the navy (1917–21) and high commis...

Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton

(Encyclopedia)Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton: see under Hooker, Sir William Jackson. ...

Wilson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Robert, 1941–, dramatist, director, and designer, b. Waco, Tex. He began his arts career as a painter. A leading figure in postmodern theater since 1963, when he arrived in New York City, he...

Paxton, Sir Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Paxton, Sir Joseph, 1803–65, English architect, noted for his use of glass and iron in a proto-modern manner. Beginning his career as a gardener and estate manager, he then built two greenhouses at ...

Banks, Sir Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Sir Joseph, 1743–1820, British naturalist and patron of the sciences. He accompanied Capt. James Cook on his voyage around the world and made large collections of biological specimens, most o...

Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, city (1990 pop. 36,930), seat of Wilson co., E N.C., in a rich agricultural region; inc. 1849. It is a commercial and industrial center with a large tobacco market. There is tobacco and food p...

Lockyer, Sir Joseph Norman

(Encyclopedia)Lockyer, Sir Joseph Norman lŏkˈyər [key], 1836–1920, English astronomer, educated on the Continent. One of the first to make a spectroscopic examination of the sun and stars, he devised (1868), i...