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Geiger counter

(Encyclopedia)Geiger counter or Geiger-Müller (G-M) counter gīˈgər-mŭlˈər, –myo͞oˈlər [key], instrument for the detection and quantitative determination of ionizing radiation such as the alpha and beta ...

typewriter

(Encyclopedia)typewriter, instrument for producing by manual operation characters similar to those of printing. Corresponding to each key on the instrument's keyboard is a steel type. Activated through a series of ...

lettre de cachet

(Encyclopedia)lettre de cachet lĕˈtrə də käshāˈ [key], formerly in French law, private, sealed document, issued as a communication from the king. Such a letter could order imprisonment or exile for an indivi...

Lick Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Lick Observatory, astronomical observatory located on Mt. Hamilton, Calif., near San Jose; the first mountaintop observatory in the world, it was founded through gifts made by James Lick in 1874–75 ...

flight simulator

(Encyclopedia)flight simulator, device providing a controlled environment in which a flight trainee can experience conditions approximating those of actual flight. A simulator generally consists of an enclosure hou...

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...

Rohrer, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Rohrer, Heinrich, 1933–2013, Swiss physicist, Ph.D. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 1960. He joined IBM in 1963 and spent almost his entire career with the company, retiring in 1997. At the I...

Siding Spring Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Siding Spring Observatory, astronomical observatory located on Siding Spring Mountain, near Coonabarabran, at an altitude of nearly 4,000 ft (1,220 m) in the Warrumbungle Mts. of New South Wales, Aust...

turn and bank indicator

(Encyclopedia)turn and bank indicator, aircraft instrument containing one indicator to show turning, or rotation about the vertical axis, and another to show banking, or rotation about the longitudinal axis. The tw...

theodolite

(Encyclopedia)theodolite thēŏdˈəlītˌ [key], calibrated optical instrument used to determine relative position in surveying, navigation, and meteorology. It is similar in construction to a surveyor's transit, ...