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Barrère, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Barrère, Georges zhôrzh bärĕrˈ [key], 1876–1944, French-American flutist and conductor, grad. Paris Conservatory, 1895. In Paris he was solo flutist (1897–1905) of the Colonne Concerts and th...

chronometer

(Encyclopedia)chronometer krənŏmˈətər [key], instrument for keeping highly accurate time, used especially in navigation. Before the advent of radio time signals it was the only device that provided the time ac...

cittern

(Encyclopedia)cittern sĭtˈərn [key], stringed musical instrument of the guitar family having an oval body, a flat back, and a fretted neck. Its strings, made of wire and varying in number, were plucked. It was f...

Wollaston, William Hyde

(Encyclopedia)Wollaston, William Hyde, 1766–1828, English scientist, M.D. Cambridge, 1793. His wide-ranging scientific achievements include the discovery (1802) of the dark lines (Fraunhofer lines) in the solar s...

small arms

(Encyclopedia)small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Automatic small arms were develope...

mandolin

(Encyclopedia)mandolin mănˌdəlĭnˈ, mănˈdəlĭnˌ [key], musical instrument of the lute family, with a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, plucked with the fingers or with...

Marsyas

(Encyclopedia)Marsyas märˈsēəs [key], in Greek mythology, Phrygian satyr. He found the flute that Athena had invented but had thrown away. He became so skillful with the instrument that he challenged the lyre-p...

Rømer, Olaus

(Encyclopedia)Rømer, Olaus or Ole ōläˈo͝os, ōˈlə römˈər [key], 1644–1710, Danish astronomer. He is noted for his discovery that light travels at a definite speed and does not move through space instant...

barrel organ

(Encyclopedia)barrel organ, mechanical musical instrument requiring nothing but the regular rotary motion of a handle to keep it going. It probably originated at the beginning of the 18th cent., and was once used e...

shawm

(Encyclopedia)shawm shôm [key], double-reed woodwind instrument used in Europe from the 13th through the 17th cent. The term denotes a family of instruments of different sizes. The shape and tone of the soprano sh...