|
spontaneous combustion
spontaneous combustion phenomenon in which a substance unexpectedly bursts into flame without apparent cause. In ordinary combustion , a substance is deliberately heated to its ignition point to make it burn. Many substances undergo a slow oxidation that, like the rapid oxidation of burning, relea...
Read more
|
|
becquerel
becquerel(Bq) The SI unit of radioactivity, being the activity of a nuclide that decays with an average of one spontaneous transition per second. The unit is named after the French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852–1908)....
Read more
|
|
|
Dame Ellen Alicia Terry
Dame Ellen Alicia Terry 1848-1928, English actress. Of a prominent theatrical family, she made her debut at eight as Mamillius in Charles Kean's production of The Winter's Tale. She played juvenile roles until her unsuccessful marriage, at 16, to G. F. Watts , the painter. She retired from the s...
Read more
|
|
|
Gerbrand Adriaenszoon Bredero
Gerbrand Adriaenszoon Bredero , 1585-1618, Dutch dramatist and poet. He is considered the major Dutch poet of his generation, particularly for his spontaneous love sonnets. The first Dutch master of comedy, Bredero was an important innovator; he drew upon classical elements as well as Renaissance mo...
Read more
|
|
|
Giuseppe Maria Crespi
Giuseppe Maria Crespi , 1665-1747, Italian painter of the Bolognese school, called Lo Spagnuolo. He is well represented in and around Bologna. His best-known works are the imposing paintings of the Seven Sacraments (1712; Dresden), but he is also noted for his spontaneous rendering of genre scenes...
Read more
|
|
|
Paul César Helleu
Paul César Helleu , 1859-1927, French drypoint etcher and painter. He is best known for his drypoint studies and portraits of fashionable women, which have the spontaneity of rapid sketches. His nearly 1,500 drypoints were often printed in two or more colors. An example of his painting, The ...
Read more
|
|
|
André Masson
André Masson , 1896-1987, French painter and graphic artist. An exponent of surrealism until 1928, Masson developed "automatic writing" —spontaneous linear expressions of his personal mythology. After World War II he painted superb landscapes in Aix-en-Provence. His Meditation on ...
Read more
|
|
|
Reuben Nakian
Reuben Nakian , 1897-1986, American sculptor, b. College Point, New York. Nakian's work is characterized by bold, massive, rough-textured forms organically draped or leaning heavily against one another. Most are abstract portrayals of themes from classical mythology. The monumental Rape of Lucrece ...
Read more
|
|
|
André Dunoyer de Segonzac
André Dunoyer de Segonzac , 1884-1974, French painter and graphic artist. Segonzac was a member of the group known as the section d'or, which stressed geometric aspects in cubism. After 1920 his painting style became more lyrical and naturalistic. His watercolors, lithographs, and etchings ...
Read more
|
|
|
will-o'-the-wisp
will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon known also as ignis fatuus and jack-o'-lantern. It is seen at night as a pale, flickering light over marshland. There is no generally accepted explanation for it; it may result from the spontaneous ignition of gases (e.g., methane) produced by the disintegration of dea...
Read more
|
