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Guaidó, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Guaidó, Juan (Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez), 1983–, Venezuelan political leader. An industrial engineer by training, he helped establish the Popular Will party in 2009 and was a protégé of party...

lots

(Encyclopedia)lots. The casting of lots was an ancient method of making a choice, settling a dispute, or determining a course of action. In biblical times lots were cast to determine the will of God (it is believed...

Willem-Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Willem-Alexander, 1967–, king of the Netherlands, eldest son of Queen Beatrix. He served (1985–87) in the navy and graduated (1993)from Leiden Univ.; he has been a member of the International Olym...

solenoid

(Encyclopedia)solenoid sōˈlənoidˌ [key], device made of a long wire that has been wound many times into a tightly packed coil; it has the shape of a long cylinder. If current is sent through a solenoid made of ...

Quidor, John

(Encyclopedia)Quidor, John kĭdôrˈ [key], 1801–81, American painter, b. Tappan, N.Y., studied with J. W. Jarvis. Little appreciated in his own time, he was subsequently accorded a place among the best early Ame...

hardening

(Encyclopedia)hardening, in metallurgy, treatment of metals to increase their resistance to penetration. A metal is harder when it has small grains, which result when the metal is cooled rapidly. Sometimes small ar...

Mount Wilson Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Mount Wilson Observatory, astronomical observatory located in California on Mt. Wilson, near Pasadena. Mt. Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 by George E. Hale. Its equipment includes 100-in. (2.5...

meteor shower

(Encyclopedia)meteor shower, increase in the number of meteors observed in a particular part of the sky. The trails of the meteors of a meteor shower all appear to be traceable back to a single point in the sky, kn...

parity

(Encyclopedia)parity or space parity, in physics, quantity that refers to the relationship between an object or process and the image that it can produce in a mirror. For example, any right-handed object will produ...

supply and demand

(Encyclopedia)supply and demand, in classical economics, factors that are said to determine price, by correlating the amount of a given commodity producers hope to sell at a certain price (supply), and the amount o...