Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Webb, Walter Prescott, 1888–1963, U.S. historian, b. Panola co., Tex. He joined the faculty of the history department at the Univ. of Texas in 1918, received his Ph.D. in 1932, and became full profe...

(Encyclopedia) power, in physics, time rate of doing work or of producing or expending energy. The unit of power based on the English units of measurement is the horsepower, devised for describing mechanical power b...

(Encyclopedia) thermoelectricity, direct conversion of heat into electric energy, or vice versa. The term is generally restricted to the irreversible conversion of electricity into heat described by the English phys...

(Encyclopedia) watt [for James Watt], abbr. W, unit of power, or work done per unit time, equal to 1 joule per second. It is used as a measure of electrical and mechanical power. One watt is the amount of power that...

(Encyclopedia) erg ûrg [key], unit of work or energy in the cgs system of units, which is based on the metric system; it is the work done or energy expended by a force of 1 dyne acting through a distance of 1 centi...

(Encyclopedia) Robertson, William, 1721–93, Scottish churchman and historian. As moderator (1762–80) of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, he led the moderate party and enforced the right of the sta...

(Encyclopedia) Mayer, Julius Robert von, 1814–78, German physician and physicist, studied medicine at Tübingen, Munich, and Paris. From a consideration of the generation of animal heat, he was led to determine th...

(Encyclopedia) James, Jesse (Woodson), 1847–82, American outlaw, b. Clay co., Mo. At the age of 15 he joined the Confederate guerrilla band led by William Quantrill and participated in the brutal and bloody civil ...

(Encyclopedia) James, William, 1842–1910, American philosopher, b. New York City, M.D. Harvard, 1869; son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James and brother of the novelist Henry James. In 1872 he joined the ...

(Encyclopedia) Dean, James (James Byron Dean), 1931–55, American film actor, b. Marion, Ind. After a few stage and television roles, Dean was chosen to play the moody, rebellious son in the film East of Eden (1953...