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Heaviside, Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Heaviside, Oliver hĕvˈēsīdˌ [key], 1850–1925, English physicist. He did valuable work in telephony and in the theory of electrical conduction in cables and other areas of electric theory. He su...

fuel cell

(Encyclopedia)fuel cell, electric cell in which the chemical energy from the oxidation of a gas fuel is converted directly to electrical energy in a continuous process (see oxidation and reduction). The efficiency ...

Divine, Father

(Encyclopedia)Divine, Father, c.1882–1965, African-American religious leader, founder of the Peace Mission movement, b. probably near Savannah, Ga. and named George Baker. After preaching in the South, he moved t...

Muir, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Muir, Edwin, 1887–1959, British author, b. Orkney Islands, Scotland. He moved with his family to Glasgow in 1901, where he remained for 18 years. In 1919 he went to London and joined the staff on th...

innate ideas

(Encyclopedia)innate ideas, in philosophy, concepts present in the mind at birth as opposed to concepts arrived at through experience. The theory has been advanced at various times in the history of philosophy to s...

Angoulême

(Encyclopedia)Angoulême äNgo͞olĕmˈ [key], city, capital of Charente dept., W France, on the Charente River. A former river port, it is now a major road and rail center. Its paper i...

Wilson, Charles Erwin

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Charles Erwin, 1890–1961, American industrialist and cabinet officer, b. Minerva, Ohio. He was an electrical engineer with Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company from 1909 to 1919 a...

conglomerate, in business

(Encyclopedia)conglomerate, corporation whose asset growth, often very rapid, comes largely through the acquisition of, or merger with, other firms whose products are largely unrelated to each other or to that of t...

Ohm, Georg Simon

(Encyclopedia)Ohm, Georg Simon gāˈôrkh zēˈmôn ōm [key], 1787–1854, German physicist. He was professor at Munich from 1852. His study of electric current led to his formulation of the law now known as Ohm's...

vacuum cleaner

(Encyclopedia)vacuum cleaner, mechanical device using a draft of air to remove dust, loose dirt, or other particulate matter from dry surfaces. It is especially useful on highly textured surfaces, such as carpets a...
 

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