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Asada Goryu

(Encyclopedia)Asada Goryu äsäˈdä gôrˈyo͞o [key], 1734–99, Japanese astronomer who helped to introduce modern astronomical instruments and methods into Japan. Asada spent much of his career in the flourishi...

Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris

(Encyclopedia)Rutherfurd, Lewis Morris rŭᵺˈərfərd [key], 1816–92, American physicist, b. New York City, grad. Williams, 1834. From 1837 to 1849 he practiced law. Rutherfurd studied and experimented in celes...

De la Rue, Warren

(Encyclopedia)De la Rue, Warren dĕlˈəro͞o, dĕləro͞oˈ [key], 1815–89, British scientist and inventor. Especially noted as an astronomer, he was a pioneer in celestial photography. He adapted the wet-plate ...

Clavius, Cristoph

(Encyclopedia)Clavius, Cristoph krĭsˈtôf klāˈvēəs [key], 1537–1612, German astronomer and mathematician. He entered the Jesuit order in 1555 and studied at Coimbra and Rome. He taught mathematics at the Co...

Monk, Thelonius

(Encyclopedia)Monk, Thelonius (Thelonius Sphere Monk), 1917–82, American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, b. Rocky Mount, N.C. Monk is considered one of the most important, and eccentric, figures in modern j...

Sender, Ramón José

(Encyclopedia)Sender, Ramón José rämōnˈhōsāˈsāndĕrˈ [key], 1902–82, Spanish novelist. A journalist, Sender fought on the side of the Loyalists in the Spanish civil war. He left Spain in 1938 and became...

constellation, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Constellations: Southern sky CE5 Constellations: Southern sky CE5 Constellations: Southern sky constellation, in common usage, group of stars that appear to form a configuration in the...

Fouillée, Alfred Jules Emile

(Encyclopedia)Fouillée, Alfred Jules Emile älfrĕdˈ zhül āmēlˈ fo͞oyāˈ [key], 1838–1912, self-educated French philosopher and sociologist. Until 1875, when he retired, he was a teacher at various French...

Ptolemaic system

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemaic system tŏlˌəmāˈĭk [key], historically the most influential of the geocentric cosmological theories, i.e., theories that placed the earth motionless at the center of the universe with a...

Draco, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Draco [Lat.,=the dragon], northern constellation lying SE of Ursa Minor and N of Lyra and Hercules. It is traditionally depicted as a dragon. Draco contains the bright star Eltanin (Gamma Draconis). T...