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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 ...

Newtownards

(Encyclopedia)Newtownards nyo͞otənärdzˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 20,531), Ards dist., E Northern Ireland, near the head of Strangford Lough. There are textile and other industries in Newtownards. The ruins of a D...

Wayland Smith

(Encyclopedia)Wayland Smith, in English folklore, a skillful blacksmith and great armor maker, whose forge was near the White Horse (Oxfordshire). He appears in the Old English Beowulf and Deor and in Sir Walter Sc...

Joseph, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Joseph, 1714–77, king of Portugal (1750–77), son and successor of John V. Little inclined to rule, his reign was dominated by his minister, the marquês de Pombal. After Lisbon was partially destr...

Amyot, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Amyot or Amiot, Joseph ämyōˈ [key], 1718–1794?, French Roman Catholic missionary in China, a Jesuit. He wrote a long treatise on the history, sciences, and customs of the Chinese (15 vol., 1776...

Scott, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Walter, 1867–1938, Canadian journalist and political leader, b. Ontario. A newspaper editor and publisher, he became (1900) a member of the House of Commons from Assiniboia West and was instr...

Brown, John, Scottish essayist

(Encyclopedia)Brown, John, 1810–82, Scottish essayist. He was a physician. His writing was collected in Horae Subsecivae (3 vol., 1858–82), which included his unique picture of a dog, Rab and His Friends (1859)...

Needham, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Needham, Joseph nēdˈəm [key], 1900–1995, British biochemist, historian of science, and sinologist, b. London. He had a lifelong association with Cambridge, where he was educated (Ph.D. 1924), tau...

Piston, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Piston, Walter, 1894–1976, American composer and teacher, b. Rockland, Maine. Piston studied at Harvard and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris; he joined the faculty of Harvard in 1926. He became a Gugge...
 

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