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measurement

(Encyclopedia)measurement, determination of the magnitude of a quantity by comparison with a standard for that quantity. Quantities frequently measured include time, length, area, volume, pressure, mass, force, and...

National Institute of Standards and Technology

(Encyclopedia)National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of “working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and st...

Magnus, Heinrich Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Magnus, Heinrich Gustav hīnˈrĭkh go͝osˈtäf mägˈno͝os [key], 1802–70, German chemist, physicist, and educator. In 1831 he became lecturer and in 1834 professor of physics and technology at t...

Koopmans, Tjalling Charles

(Encyclopedia)Koopmans, Tjalling Charles tyälˈĭng, ko͞opˈmäns, –mənz [key], 1910–85, American economist, b. Graveland, the Netherlands. Raised and educated in the Netherlands, he came to the United State...

Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin, 1831–1917, American journalist, author, and philanthropist, b. Hampton Falls, N.H., grad. Harvard, 1855. An active abolitionist, he was a friend and agent of John Brown, ...

Texas, University of

(Encyclopedia)Texas, University of, main campus at Austin; coeducational; state supported; chartered 1881, opened 1883. Medical facilities include health science centers with medical schools at Houston and San Anto...

Tilly, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Tilly, Charles, 1929–2008, American sociologist, b. Lombard, Ill. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, Tilly taught at the Univ. of Michigan, the New School for Social Research, and Columbia, among other...

Roanoke, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Roanoke rōˈənōk [key], city (1990 pop. 96,397), independent and in no co., SW Va., on the Roanoke River; settled c.1740, inc. 1882, as a city, 1884. It is situated between the Blue Ridge and Alleg...

Semple, Ellen Churchill

(Encyclopedia)Semple, Ellen Churchill, 1863–1932, American geographer, b. Louisville, Ky., grad. Vassar, 1882, and studied at the Univ. of Leipzig. A follower of the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel, she helped...

Vickrey, William Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Vickrey, William Spencer, 1914–96, Canadian economist, b. Victoria, B.C., Ph.D. Columbia, 1947. He was on the faculty of Columbia from 1946 until his death. In 1996 he and James Mirrlees shared the ...