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Orsha

(Encyclopedia)Orsha ôrˈshə [key], city (1989 pop. 123,128), NE Belarus, a port at the confluence of the Dnieper and Orshitsa rivers. One of Belarus's leading rail and water transport junctions and industrial cen...

bossism

(Encyclopedia)bossism, in U.S. history, system of political control centering about a single powerful figure (the boss) and a complex organization of lesser figures (the machine) bound together by reciprocity in pr...

computer-aided design

(Encyclopedia)computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), form of automation that helps designers prepare drawings, specifications, parts lists, and other design-related elements using...

Madoff, Bernard Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Madoff, Bernard Lawrence māˈdôf [key], 1938–2021, American stockbroker, investment manager, and ...

programming language

(Encyclopedia)programming language, syntax, grammar, and symbols or words used to give instructions to a computer. Once the program is written and has had any errors repaired (a process called debugging), it may ...

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...

fluoroscope

(Encyclopedia)fluoroscope flo͝orˈəskōp [key], instrument consisting of an X-ray machine (see X ray) and a fluorescent screen that may be used by physicians to view the internal organs of the body. During medica...

thermography

(Encyclopedia)thermography thûrˌmŏgˈrəfē [key], contact photocopying process that produces a direct positive image and in which infrared rays are used to expose the copy paper. In a specially designed machine...

Backus, John Warner

(Encyclopedia)Backus, John Warner, 1924–2007, American computer scientist, b. Philadelphia, grad. Columbia (M.A. 1950). Trained as a mathematician, he was hired (1950) by IBM Corp. as a computer programmer. From ...

Rock Island, town, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Rock Island, town (1991 pop. 1,067), S Que., Canada, at the Vermont border. It is the seat of Stanstead College. Machine tools, dies, and textiles are made. ...