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Duhem, Pierre Maurice Marie

(Encyclopedia)Duhem, Pierre Maurice Marie pyĕr mōrēsˈ märēˈ düĕmˈ [key], 1861–1916, French physicist and philosopher and historian of science. After studying at the École Normale Supérieure he taught ...

Penrose, Sir Roger

(Encyclopedia)Penrose, Sir Roger, 1931–, British mathematical physicist, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1958. He taught and conducted research at a number of British and American colleges and universities before becoming a pro...

Calderón, Alberto

(Encyclopedia)Calderón, Alberto käldārōnˈ [key], 1920–98, Argentine mathematician, b. Mendoza, Argentina, grad. Univ. of Buenos Aires (B.S. 1947), Univ. of Chicago (Ph.D. 1950). He is known for his contribut...

Lorentz contraction

(Encyclopedia)Lorentz contraction lôrˈĕnts [key], in physics, contraction or foreshortening of a moving body in the direction of its motion, proposed by H. A. Lorentz on theoretical grounds and based on an earli...

blackbody

(Encyclopedia)blackbody, in physics, an ideal black substance that absorbs all and reflects none of the radiant energy falling on it. Lampblack, or powdered carbon, which reflects less than 2% of the radiation fall...

Rockburne, Dorothea

(Encyclopedia)Rockburne, Dorothea, 1932–, American artist, b. Quebec, Canada. The configurations of Rockburne's constructions are predetermined by the nature of her materials and by various limiting rules of her ...

Bernoulli

(Encyclopedia)Bernoulli or Bernouilli both: bĕrno͞oyēˈ [key], name of a family distinguished in scientific and mathematical history. The family, after leaving Antwerp, finally settled in Basel, Switzerland, whe...

bean

(Encyclopedia)bean, name applied to the seeds of leguminous trees and shrubs and to various leguminous plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) with edible seeds or seed pods (legumes). The genera and specie...

acids and bases

(Encyclopedia)acids and bases, two related classes of chemicals; the members of each class have a number of common properties when dissolved in a solvent, usually water. Another theory that provides a very broad ...

Tait, Peter Guthrie

(Encyclopedia)Tait, Peter Guthrie, 1831–1901, Scottish physicist and mathematician. He was professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh from 1860 and conducted important investigations in thermodynamics and the k...