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Bunsen burner

(Encyclopedia)Bunsen burner, gas burner, commonly used in scientific laboratories, consisting essentially of a hollow tube which is fitted vertically around the flame and which has an opening at the base to admit a...

Gresham, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Gresham, Sir Thomas grĕshˈəm [key], 1519?–1579, English merchant and financier. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp after 1551 he proved himself very able, though his methods were frequently ...

Alembert, Jean le Rond d'

(Encyclopedia)Alembert, Jean le Rond d' zhäN lərôNˈ däläNbĕrˈ [key], 1717–83, French mathematician and philosopher. The illegitimate son of the chevalier Destouches, he was named for the St. Jean le Rond ...

Pauli, Wolfgang

(Encyclopedia)Pauli, Wolfgang vôlfˈgäng pouˈlē [key], 1900–1958, Austro-American physicist, b. Vienna. He studied first with A. Sommerfeld at Munich and then with Niels Bohr at Copenhagen. After lecturing (1...

fuzzy logic

(Encyclopedia)fuzzy logic, a multivalued (as opposed to binary) logic developed to deal with imprecise or vague data. Classical logic holds that everything can be expressed in binary terms: 0 or 1, black or white, ...

atonality

(Encyclopedia)atonality āˌtōnălˈĭtē [key], in music, systematic avoidance of harmonic or melodic reference to tonal centers (see key). The term is used to designate a method of composition in which the compo...

information theory

(Encyclopedia)information theory or communication theory, mathematical theory formulated principally by the American scientist Claude E. Shannon to explain aspects and problems of information and communication. Whi...

Ritz, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Ritz, Walter, 1878–1909, Swiss physicist. He taught at the universities of Zürich and Göttingen. Ritz's combination principle, confirmed by later research, stated that the frequencies of spectral ...

buoyancy

(Encyclopedia)buoyancy boiˈənsē, bo͞oˈyən– [key], upward force exerted by a fluid on any body immersed in it. Buoyant force can be explained in terms of Archimedes' principle. ...

Preemption Act

(Encyclopedia)Preemption Act, statute passed (1841) by the U.S. Congress in response to the demands of the Western states that squatters be allowed to preempt lands. Pioneers often settled on public lands before th...