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air law ... Akerlof, George A.

air law: the body of law directly or indirectly concerned with civil aviation. Aviation in this context extends to both heavier-than-air and lighter-than-air aircraft. Air-cushion vehicles are not regarded as aircraft by ...
air lock: device that permits passage between regions of differing air pressures, most often used for passage between atmospheric pressure and chambers in which the air is compressed, such as pneumatic caissons ...
air mass: in meteorology, large body of air having nearly uniform conditions of temperature and humidity at any given level of altitude. Such a mass has distinct boundaries and may extend hundreds ...
Air massif: group of granitic mountains rising sharply from the Sahara in central Niger. Several of these mountains approach and exceed 6,000 feet (1,800 m), the highest being Mount Greboun (6,378 feet ...
air pocket: downdraft encountered by an aircraft in flight. See updraft and downdraft.
air racing: sport of racing airplanes either over a predetermined course or cross-country up to transcontinental limits. Air racing dates back to 1909, when the first international meet was held at Reims, ...
air sac: any of the air-filled extensions of the breathing apparatus of many animals. Air sacs are found as tiny sacs off the larger breathing tubes (tracheae) of insects, as extensions of ...
air space: in international law, the space above a particular national territory, treated as belonging to the government controlling the territory. It does not include outer space, which, under the Outer Space ...
air spring: load-carrying component of an air suspension system used on machines, automobiles, and buses. A system used on buses consists of an air compressor, an air-supply tank, leveling valves, check valves, ...
air warfare: military operations conducted by airplanes, helicopters, or other manned craft that are propelled aloft. Air warfare may be conducted against other aircraft, against targets on the ground, and against targets ...
air warfare: the tactics of military operations conducted by airplanes, helicopters, or other manned craft that are propelled aloft. Air warfare may be conducted against other aircraft, against targets on the ground, ...
air-conditioning: the control of temperature, humidity, purity, and motion of air in an enclosed space, independent of outside conditions.
air-cushion machine: any of the machines characterized by movement in which a significant portion of the weight is supported by forces arising from air pressures developed around the craft, as a result ...
Air-India: airline founded in 1932 (as Tata Airlines) and now an international airline owned by the Indian government and serving southern and east Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Australia, and ...
air-sea interface: boundary between the atmosphere and the ocean waters. The interface is one of the most physically and chemically active of the Earth's environments. Its neighbourhood supports most marine life.
air-traffic control: the supervision of the movements of all aircraft, both in the air and on the ground, in the vicinity of an airport. See traffic control.
Airbus Industrie: European aircraft-manufacturing consortium formed in 1970 to fill a market niche for short- to medium-range, high-capacity jetliners and to compete with long-established American manufacturers. Full members include the German-French-Spanish-owned European ...
aircraft carrier: naval vessel from which airplanes may take off and on which they may land. As early as November 1910, an American civilian pilot, Eugene Ely, flew a plane off a ...
Aire, River: river rising at Malham Tarn (lake), in North Yorkshire administrative county, historic county of Yorkshire, England. It drains the central Pennines and flows southeastward through West Yorkshire metropolitan county and ...
Airedale terrier: the largest of the terriers, probably descended from the otterhound and an extinct broken-haired dog, the black-and-tan Old English terrier. The Airedale stands about 23 inches (58 cm) and usually ...
airfoil: shaped surface, such as an airplane wing, tail, or propeller blade, that produces lift and drag when moved through the air. An airfoil produces a lifting force that acts at ...
airframe: basic structure of an airplane or spacecraft excluding its power plant and instrumentation; its principal components thus include the wings, fuselage, tail assembly, and landing gear. The airframe is designed ...
airglow: faint luminescence of the Earth's upper atmosphere that is caused by air molecules' and atoms' selective absorption of solar ultraviolet and X-radiation. Most of the airglow emanates from the region ...
airmail: letters and parcels transported by airplanes. Airmail service was initiated in 1911 in England between Hendon (northwest of London) and Windsor, to celebrate the coronation of George V. Service was ...
airplane: any of a class of fixed-wing aircraft that is heavier than air, propelled by a screw propeller or a high-velocity jet, and supported by the dynamic reaction of the air ...
airport: site and installation for the takeoff and landing of aircraft. An airport usually has paved runways and maintenance facilities and serves as a terminal for passengers and cargo.
airport: site and installation for the takeoff and landing of aircraft. An airport usually has paved runways and maintenance facilities and serves as a terminal for passengers and cargo.
airship: (from French diriger, "to steer"), a self-propelled, lighter-than-air craft.
airspeed indicator: instrument that measures the speed of an aircraft relative to the surrounding air, using the differential between the pressure of still air (static pressure) and that of moving air compressed ...
Airy, Sir George Biddell: English scientist who was astronomer royal from 1835 to 1881.
Aisen: region, southern Chile, bounded on the east by Argentina and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Aisen includes the Chonos Archipelago, the Taitao Peninsula, and the mainland between the ...
aisle: portion of a church or basilica that parallels or encircles the major sections of the structure, such as the nave, choir, or apse (aisles around the apse are usually called ...
aisling: in Irish literature, a poetic or dramatic description or representation of a vision. The Vision of Adamnan is one of the best-known examples. In the 18th century the aisling became ...
Aistis, Jonas: poet whose lyrics are considered among the best in Lithuanian literature and who was the first modern Lithuanian poet to turn to personal expression.
Aitken, John: Scottish physicist and meteorologist who, through a series of experiments and observations in which he used apparatus of his own design, elucidated the crucial role that microscopic particles, now called ...
Aitken, Robert Grant: American astronomer who specialized in the study of double stars, of which he discovered more than 3,000.
Aix-en-Provence: city, Bouches-du-Rhone departement, Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur region, southern France, north of Marseille. Lying on the plain 1 mile (1.6 km) from the right bank of the Arc River, it is on the ...
Aix-la-Chapelle, Congress of: (Oct. 1-Nov. 15, 1818), the first of the four congresses held by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and France to discuss and take common action on European problems following the ...
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of: (Oct. 18, 1748), treaty negotiated largely by Britain and France, with the other powers following their lead, ending the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). The treaty was marked by ...
Aix-les-Bains: city and Alpine spa, Savoie departement, Rhone-Alpes region, southeastern France, southwest of Geneva. A summer and winter resort with a beach on Bourget Lake (France's largest lake) and an aerial ...
Aix-Marseille I, II, and III, Universities of: coeducational, state-financed, autonomous institutions of higher learning at Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, founded under France's 1968 Orientation Act, reforming higher education. The institutions developed out of the original University of Provence, ...
Aizawa Yasushi: Japanese nationalist thinker whose writings helped provoke the movement that in 1868 overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate and restored power to the emperor.
Aizawl: town and capital of Mizoram state, northeastern India. It is situated on a ridge at an elevation of about 2,950 feet (900 m) and is the most populous town in ...
Aizu-wakamatsu: city, Fukushima ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, in the centre of the Aizu basin, surrounded by volcanic mountains. A castle was built on the site in 1384. Much of the present ...
Ajaccio: town, capital of Corse-du-Sud departement, Corsica region, France, and Mediterranean port, on the west coast of the island of Corsica. Napoleon's birthplace, Maison Bonaparte, ...
Ajanta Caves: Buddhist rock-cut cave temples and monasteries, near Ajanta village, north-central Maharashtra state, western India, celebrated for their wall paintings. The temples are hollowed out of granite cliffs on the inner ...
Ajaria: republic in Georgia, in the southwestern corner of that country adjacent to the Black Sea and the Turkish frontier. It is largely mountainous with the exception of a narrow coastal ...
Ajax: in Greek legend, son of Telamon, king of Salamis, described in the Iliad as being of great stature and colossal frame, second only to the Greek hero Achilles in strength ...
Ajax: in Greek legend, son of Oileus, king of Locris. In spite of his small stature, he held his own among the other heroes before Troy; but he was also boastful, ...
Ajdukiewicz, Kazimierz: Polish logician and semanticist who was the chief contributor to the Warsaw school of philosophy and logic, which analyzed the relationship of language and knowledge. He is credited with developing ...
ajiva: in the Jainist philosophy of India, "nonliving substance," as opposed to jiva, "soul" or "living matter." Ajiva is divided into: (1) akasa, "space," (2) dharma, "that which makes motion possible," ...
Ajivika: an ascetic sect that emerged in India about the same time as Buddhism and Jainism and that lasted until the 14th century; the name may mean "following the ascetic way ...
Ajjul, Tall al-: ancient site in southern Palestine, located at the mouth of the Ghazzah Wadi just south of the town of Gaza (modern Ghazzah). The site, often called "ancient Gaza," was excavated ...
Ajman: constituent emirate of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman); the smallest state of the country. It is composed of three sections; the principal portion, on the ...
Ajmer: city, central Rajasthan state, northwestern India. The city is on the lower slopes of Taragarh Hill, on the summit of which stands a fortress. It was probably founded about 1100 ...
Ajo: town, Pima county, southwestern Arizona, U.S. Spaniards mined in the area in the 1750s, and the Ajo Copper Company (1854) was the first incorporated mining concern in the Arizona Territory. ...
Ak Koyunlu: Turkmen tribal federation that ruled northern Iraq, Azerbaijan, and eastern Anatolia from AD 1378 to 1508.
AK-47: 1947, Soviet assault rifle, one of the most widely used shoulder weapons in the world. The initials AK represent Avtomat Kalashnikov, Russian for "automatic Kalashnikov," for its designer, Mikhail Timofeyevich ...
Akademgorodok: scientific research city located near Novosibirsk at the northeast corner of the Novosibirsk Reservoir, south-central Russia. Akademgorodok is home to numerous research institutes and is the seat of the Siberian ...
Akademiya Nauk Range: ("Academy of Sciences Range"), mountain range, western Pamirs, central Tajikistan. The mountains, extending north-south, are approximately 68 miles (110 km) in length and are composed mostly of sedimentary and metamorphic ...
Akaka Falls: waterfall, Hawaii county, northeastern Hawaii island, Hawaii, U.S. A central feature of Akaka Falls State Park (65 acres [26 hectares]), it is easily reached by foot trail. The waterfall is ...
Akal Takht: (Punjabi: "Throne of the Timeless One"), the chief centre of religious authority for the Sikh community of India. The Akal Takht is located at the city of Amritsar (Punjab state), ...
Akali: (Punjabi: "Timeless One," or "Eternal One"), a movement in Sikhism; also any member of suicide squads in the armies of the Sikhs, a religious group of India. The Akali suicide ...
Akan: ethnolinguistic grouping of peoples of the Guinea Coast who speak Akan languages (of the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family). They include the speakers of the Akyem, Anyi, Asante (Ashanti), ...
Akan languages: dialect cluster of the Nyo group within the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Its principal members are Asante (Ashanti), Fante (Fanti), Brong (Abron), and Akuapem. The Akan cluster ...
Akan states: historical complex of gold-producing forest states in western Africa lying between the Comoe and Volta rivers (in an area roughly corresponding to the coastal lands of the modern republics of ...
Akaroa: community, Canterbury local government region, eastern South Island, New Zealand. It is situated on the shore of French Bay, inside Akaroa Harbour, which is a rocky inlet on the Banks ...
Akashi: city, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. The city is adjacent to Kobe on the Akashi Strait of the Inland Sea. It developed as a castle town, and many relics of ...
Akashic record: in occultism, a compendium of pictorial records, or "memories," of all events, actions, thoughts, and feelings that have occurred since the beginning of time. They are said to be imprinted ...
Akbar: greatest of the Mughal emperors of India (reigning 1556-1605), who extended Mughal power over most of the Indian subcontinent. In order to preserve the unity of his empire, Akbar adopted ...
Akbar period architecture: building style that developed in India under the patronage of the Mughal emperor Akbar (reigned 1556-1605). The style is best exemplified by the fort at Agra (built 1565-74) and the ...
Akebia: genus of woody vines comprising two species native to Asia but introduced elsewhere for their ornamental foliage and fast growth. The genus belongs to the family Lardizabalaceae.
akee: (Blighia sapida), tree of the soapberry family native to West Africa, widely cultivated throughout tropical and subtropical regions for its edible fruit. The tree grows about 9 metres (30 feet) ...
Akeley, Carl E.: American naturalist and explorer who developed the taxidermic method for mounting museum displays to show animals in their natural surroundings. His method of applying skin on a finely molded replica ...
Akenside, Mark: poet and physician, best known for his poem The Pleasures of Imagination, an eclectic philosophical essay that takes as its starting point papers on the same subject written by Joseph ...
Akerlof, George A.: American economist who, with A. Michael Spence and Joseph E. Stiglitz, won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001 for laying the foundation for the theory of markets with asymmetric ...