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intuition

(Encyclopedia)intuition, in philosophy, way of knowing directly; immediate apprehension. The Greeks understood intuition to be the grasp of universal principles by the intelligence (nous), as distinguished from the...

electromagnet

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Electromagnet electromagnet, device in which magnetism is produced by an electric current. Any electric current produces a magnetic field, but the field near an ordinary straight conductor is ...

nuclear reactor

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Power reactor system nuclear reactor, device for producing controlled release of nuclear energy. Reactors can be used for research or for power production. A research reactor is designed to pr...

property

(Encyclopedia)property, rights to the enjoyment of things of economic value, whether the enjoyment is exclusive or shared, present or prospective. The rightful possession of such rights is called ownership. Ownersh...

Tompion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

ringbone

(Encyclopedia)ringbone, bony outgrowth on the front and sides of the pastern bones of a horse's foot, resulting from inflammation or faulty conformation of the bones. The outgrowths increase with sprains and other ...

inferior planet

(Encyclopedia)inferior planet, planet whose orbit lies inside that of the earth. There are two inferior planets, Mercury and Venus. They always seem to be close to the sun in the sky; the greatest elongation of Mer...

medical jurisprudence

(Encyclopedia)medical jurisprudence or forensic medicine, the application of medical science to legal problems. It is typically involved in cases concerning blood relationship, mental illness, injury, or death resu...

safety lamp

(Encyclopedia)safety lamp, oil lamp designed for safe use in mines and other places where flammable gases such as firedamp (see damp) may be present. Its invention (c.1816) is usually attributed to Sir Humphry Davy...

bark cloth

(Encyclopedia)bark cloth, primitive fabric made in tropical and subtropical countries from the soft inner bark of certain trees. It has been made and used in parts of Africa and India, the Malay Peninsula, Samoa, t...