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Philip Wilson Steer
Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942, English landscape painter. Steer worked largely in the tradition of French impressionist painting and was considered the greatest English landscape painter of his day. He brought to his subjects a considerable understanding of pattern, color, space, and especially lig...
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rodeo
rodeo , public exhibition of the skill of cowboys in various activities. Events include riding broncos, riding steers, "bulldogging" steers, roping and tying steers and calves, the use of the lasso, and other less closely related activities such as contests of marksmanship. The rodeo was origina...
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tobogganing
tobogganing sport of coasting down snowy hillsides or chutes on a toboggan, a flat-bottomed vehicle made of hard wood. The toboggan, typically measuring 1.5 ft by 6-8 ft (.46 m by 1.8-2.4 m), is curled up at the front end to allow it to slide over irregularities of surface. The bottom is waxed, and...
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Sir George Cayley
Sir George Cayley 1773-1857, British scientist. He is recognized as the founder of aerodynamics on the basis of his pioneering experiments and studies of the principles of flight. He experimented with wing design, distinguished between lift and drag, formulated the concepts of vertical tail surface...
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John Adams Howell
John Adams Howell 1840-1918, American naval officer and inventor, b. Bath, N.Y., grad. Annapolis, 1858. He served as a lieutenant throughout the Civil War, fighting under Admiral Farragut at Mobile Bay (1864). In the Spanish-American War he commanded a squadron of the North Atlantic Fleet and was p...
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luge
luge , a type of small sled on which one or two persons, lying face up, slide feet first down snowy hillsides or down steeply banked, curving, iced chutes similar to those used in bobsledding . Steering is accomplished by shifting weight, pulling straps attached to the runners, or using the feet....
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suspension
suspension in automobiles, system of springs used to suspend the frame, body, engine, and power train above the wheels. Its principal purpose is to lessen the jarring of the automobile that is caused by irregularities in the roads traveled. Since the wheels of an automobile accelerate, stop, and st...
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avionics
avionics , electronic instruments used in air or space flight; also the design and production of such instruments. Early planes had few instruments, but as aviation and aircraft became more complex, so did instrumentation. Most of the new technology was electronic; hence, the expression "aviation ...
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ball-and-socket joint
ball-and-socket joint in engineering, mechanical connection used between parts that must be allowed some relative angular motion in nearly all directions. As the name implies, the joint consists essentially of a spherical knob at the end of a shaft, with the knob fitting securely into a mating sock...
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Census of Marine Life
Census of Marine Life an international program to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of living organisms in the oceans. A 10-year project involving scientists in more than 70 nations, the census began in 2001 and is directed by an international scientific steering committ...
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