Vector analysis is the multi-dimensional analogue of single-variable calculus. It is used to represent (and analyze) the motions of the solar system, fluid flows, the flow of electric charge, and other phenomena. In single-variable calculu...

Abstract linear spaces are also called vector spaces, and they occur in a wide variety of mathematical settings. The most familiar examples are the finite dimensional Euclidean spaces. Let N be a positive integer. Then ℜN can be repre...

VEDĀṄGAS. Vedāṅgas (Sanskrit, "limbs of the Veda") are subjects supplementary and subsidiary to the Vedas, the sacred texts of the pre-Hindu religion of ancient India. While the earliest sections o...

VEDAS. Specifically, the Vedas are often understood to comprise four collections of hymns and sacrificial formulas. In a more general sense, however, the term Veda does not denote only these four books, or any single book, but a whole lite...

The strictest type of vegetarians, refraining from eating not only meat and fish, but also eggs, dairy products, and all other food containing or derived from animals, often including honey. A vegan diet contains no cholesterol and very li...

Vegetarianism The main reasons people become vegetarians are that many people think that it is very cruel and selfish to eat animals, when we can easily survive on vegetables and fruit. Others believe that the way in which people ...

For more than thirty-five years the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) has been the last stop on Earth for most American human space missions, beginning with the Apollo missions, through Skylab, and the space shuttle. More than 600 people spe...

Velcro is a fabric-strip fastener that takes the place of zippers, buttons, hooks, and snaps. It was invented by a Swiss engineer named Georges de Mestral. In 1948, on returning from a day's hunting in the Alps, de Mestral wondered what ma...

The term velocity is often confused with speed; to understand the concept of velocity, it is helpful to first understand what is meant by speed.Average speed is determined by dividing the distance traveled by the time required to move that...

In an oft-repeated declaration, Roxy Music co-founder Brian Eno once said that the Velvet Underground only sold a few records, but everyone who bought their albums started their own band. While Eno's claim most certainly is hyperbol...

The slot machine or one-armed bandit is a gambling device that, when a coin is dropped into its slot and its handle pulled down, activates three or more horizontal reels marked with various symbols such as stars, card suits, numbers, fruit...

Venezuela is situated on the northern coast of South America. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea to the north, Brazil to the south, Colombia to the west and southwest, and Guyana to the east. The capital of Venezuela is...

A Venn diagram is a schematic representation used in depicting collections of sets and the interrelationships between those sets. Although Venn diagrams are often employed in literary studies they are more common in mathematical studies in...

The venturi tube is a flowmeter that allows scientists to measure the drop in air pressure that occurs as a fluid's velocity increases. It was designed by the Italian physicist Giovanni Venturi (1746-1822), but the principles it demonstrat...

1931- American mathematician who is an authority on coding theory. Pless earned a Northwestern University doctorate, specializing in algebra. At the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory, Pless joined mathematicians who pioneered the exp...

Celtic chieftain Vercingetorix (c. 75 BC-c. 46 BC) battled valiantly to keep the Roman army from overrunning the territory of Gaul, as France was then called. His troops were defeated at Alesia and Vercingetorix was forced to surrender. Re...

The appendix is a small finger-like appendage found near the juncture of the small and large intestines. Also termed the vermiform appendix, the organ is vestigial and has no apparent function. Vestigial organs and structures are those tha...

A vernier is a two-part scale that measures angles and lengths in small divisions. It consists of a large stationary scale used to measure in whole numbers and an attached small movable scale used to measure in fractions, often to.001 in. ...

1867-1937 American entomologist educated at the University of Kansas, Cornell University, and the University of Leipzig in entomology and evolution. In 1894 David Starr Jordan hired Kellogg as professor of entomology at the newly establish...

The spine or backbone is made of a long series of bones called the vertebrae. Each vertebra has a function and distinctive shape that separates it from the rest of the series. There are groups of vertebrae that are easily identified by the...

The vertebrates are commonly called "animals with backbones," but this is a simplified description of a group of animals who are the most anatomically and functionally diverse on Earth. As with most major groups of animals, t...

The classic detective format is told with many new twists and complications by Alfred Hitchcock in his film Vertigo. Hitchcock used many techniques other than the film makers of his era. He told his stories with the camera and had his ow...

Large-scale integration (LSI) describes a circuit-building technique whereby 3,000-100,000 components (i.e., transistors, capacitors, and other devices) are manufactured as part of a single solid object (usually a chip of crystalline silic...

VESTA. The name Vesta, with the archaic suffix-ta, is derived from the root *a1eu, "to burn." It encompasses two stems: stem 1, *a1eu-s, is found in the Greek heuo and the Latin uro, "I burn"; stem 2, *a1u-es, l...

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is driven by head movement and moves the eyes in the direction opposite to the head movement, automatically stabilizing vision relative to space. The VOR is mediated by a trineuronal arc composed of the pr...