- Wildlife (novel by Ford)
Richard Ford: In Wildlife (1990) Ford depicted a teenager in Montana who witnesses the breakup of his parents’ marriage. Canada (2012) chronicles the experiences of a man whose life is shaped by his parents’ bungled attempt to rob a bank during his youth. Rock Springs (1987), Women with…
- wildlife conservation
bison: …American and Canadian cattlemen and conservationists resulted in the protection of the remaining animals in government preserves, zoos, and ranches on both sides of the border. The present commercial herds now total as many as 400,000 individuals. Some 31,000 bison are part of conservation herds made up of 20,000 plains…
- Wildlife Conservation Society
zoo: Function and purpose: The New York Zoological Society maintains an Institute for Research in Animal Behavior and, in Trinidad, the William Beebe Tropical Research Station. In Great Britain the Zoological Society of London maintains, in addition to a modern hospital and pathology laboratories, two general research institutes—the Nuffield Institute…
- Wildlife in America (work by Matthiessen)
Peter Matthiessen: …15 books of nonfiction, including Wildlife in America (1959), a history of the destruction of wildlife in North America; The Cloud Forest: A Chronicle of the South American Wilderness (1961); and Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in the Stone Age (1962), about his experiences as a…
- wildlife trafficking
endangered species: Species assessment and management: …around the world, poaching and illegal trafficking plague many areas. Consequently, even species in those areas require continued monitored and periodic assessment.
- Wildman, Sir John (English agitator)
Sir John Wildman was an English agitator and Leveler associate who outlasted vicissitudes under three British kings and two protectors. Wildman was of obscure ancestry. Educated at Cambridge, he first came into prominence in October 1647, when he helped to write the first Agreement of the People.
- Wilds (South Carolina, United States)
Florence, city, seat (1889) of Florence county, northeastern South Carolina, U.S. Established in the 1850s as a rail junction and transfer point for the Wilmington and Manchester, the Northwestern, and the Cheraw and Darlington railroads, it was called Wilds for a judge in the town but later
- Wildspitze (mountain, Austria)
Ötztal Alps: …are snow- and glacier-covered, including Wildspitze (12,382 feet [3,774 metres]), the highest point both in the range and in the Austrian Tirol. The Ötztaler Ache, a tributary of the Inn River, divides the main part of the range to the southwest from the Stubaier Alpen section to the northeast. The…
- Wile E. Coyote (cartoon character)
Road Runner: …efforts of a coyote (Wile E. Coyote) to catch him.
- Wiler, Lake (lake, Switzerland)
lake: Chemical precipitates: In Switzerland, Lake Wiler (Wilersee) was treated by the removal of water just above the sediments during stagnation periods.
- Wilersee (lake, Switzerland)
lake: Chemical precipitates: In Switzerland, Lake Wiler (Wilersee) was treated by the removal of water just above the sediments during stagnation periods.
- Wiles, Andrew (British mathematician)
Andrew Wiles is a British mathematician who proved Fermat’s last theorem. In recognition, he was awarded a special silver plaque—he was beyond the traditional age limit of 40 years for receiving the gold Fields Medal—by the International Mathematical Union in 1998. He also received the Wolf Prize
- Wiles, Andrew John (British mathematician)
Andrew Wiles is a British mathematician who proved Fermat’s last theorem. In recognition, he was awarded a special silver plaque—he was beyond the traditional age limit of 40 years for receiving the gold Fields Medal—by the International Mathematical Union in 1998. He also received the Wolf Prize
- Wiles, Sir Andrew John (British mathematician)
Andrew Wiles is a British mathematician who proved Fermat’s last theorem. In recognition, he was awarded a special silver plaque—he was beyond the traditional age limit of 40 years for receiving the gold Fields Medal—by the International Mathematical Union in 1998. He also received the Wolf Prize
- Wiles, Susie (American political consultant)
Susie Wiles is an American political consultant who serves as White House chief of staff (2025– ) in the second administration of Pres. Donald Trump. She is the first woman to hold the post. Wiles previously worked on a number of Republican campaigns and was considered the architect of Trump’s
- Wiley Act (United States [1906])
Pure Food and Drug Act, in U.S. history, legislation passed in 1906 to ensure the sanitary preparation of consumable goods. The Pure Food and Drug Act required accurate ingredient labeling and prohibited the sale of adulterated and misbranded food and drugs in interstate commerce. As the first
- Wiley, Genie (American child)
Genie was an American child raised in social isolation and subject to severe abuse and neglect prior to being discovered by a social worker in 1970. The child, called Genie by scientists to protect her identity, was physically underdeveloped, incontinent, barely able to walk, and unable to speak
- Wiley, Harvey W. (American chemist)
Meat Inspection Act of 1906: Origins of reform: …in the 1880s, American chemist Harvey W. Wiley, chief of the Bureau of Chemistry of the USDA, issued reports noting the health hazards posed by the adulteration of processed foods such as canned meat and by chemicals used as preservatives and colouring agents. The Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (an…
- Wiley, Kehinde (American artist)
Kehinde Wiley is an American artist best known for portraits that feature African Americans in the traditional settings of Old Master paintings. Wiley’s childhood experiences in the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles were enriched by his mother’s passion for education. At the age of 11, he
- Wiley, Susan (American child)
Genie was an American child raised in social isolation and subject to severe abuse and neglect prior to being discovered by a social worker in 1970. The child, called Genie by scientists to protect her identity, was physically underdeveloped, incontinent, barely able to walk, and unable to speak
- Wilfred of York (English saint)
Saint Wilfrid ; feast day October 12) was one of the greatest English saints, a monk and bishop who was outstanding in bringing about close relations between the Anglo-Saxon Church and the papacy. He devoted his life to establishing the observances of the Roman Church over those of the Celtic
- Wilfrid of York (English saint)
Saint Wilfrid ; feast day October 12) was one of the greatest English saints, a monk and bishop who was outstanding in bringing about close relations between the Anglo-Saxon Church and the papacy. He devoted his life to establishing the observances of the Roman Church over those of the Celtic
- Wilfrid, Saint (English saint)
Saint Wilfrid ; feast day October 12) was one of the greatest English saints, a monk and bishop who was outstanding in bringing about close relations between the Anglo-Saxon Church and the papacy. He devoted his life to establishing the observances of the Roman Church over those of the Celtic
- Wilfridian (British religious society)
Frederick William Faber: …hymnist, and founder of the Wilfridians, a religious society living in common without vows.
- Wilgus, William John (American engineer)
immersed tube: Wilgus in the Detroit River in 1903 for the Michigan Central Railroad. Wilgus dredged a trench in the riverbed, floated segments of steel tube into position, and sank them; the segments were locked together by divers and pumped out and could then be covered with…
- Wilhelm Alexander (grand duke of Luxembourg)
William IV was the grand duke of Luxembourg (1905–12), the eldest son of grand duke Adolf of Nassau. Falling severely ill soon after his accession, he eventually on March 19, 1908, had his consort Maria Anna of Braganza named regent, or governor (Statthalterin). Also, having no sons and wishing to
- Wilhelm der Weise (landgrave of Hesse-Kassel)
William IV was the landgrave (or count) of Hesse-Kassel from 1567 who was called “the Wise” because of his accomplishments in political economy and the natural sciences. The son of the landgrave Philip the Magnanimous, he participated with his brother-in-law Maurice of Saxony in the princely
- Wilhelm Ernst (duke of Weimar)
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Weimar period: Encouraged by Wilhelm Ernst, he concentrated on the organ during the first few years of his tenure. From Weimar, Bach occasionally visited Weissenfels; in February 1713 he took part in a court celebration there that included a performance of his first secular cantata, Was mir behagt, also…
- Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig (emperor of Germany)
William I was a German emperor from 1871, as well as king of Prussia from 1861. He was a sovereign whose conscientiousness and self-restraint fitted him for collaboration with stronger statesmen in raising his monarchy and the house of Hohenzollern to predominance in Germany. He was the second son
- Wilhelm Gustloff (German ocean liner)
Wilhelm Gustloff, German ocean liner that was sunk by a Soviet submarine on January 30, 1945. An estimated 9,000 passengers were killed in the sinking, making it the greatest maritime disaster in history. The MV Gustloff was the first ship built specifically for the German Labour Front’s Kraft
- Wilhelm Heinrich (king of Great Britain)
William IV was the king of Great Britain and Ireland and king of Hanover from June 26, 1830. Personally opposed to parliamentary reform, he grudgingly accepted the epochal Reform Act of 1832, which, by transferring representation from depopulated “rotten boroughs” to industrialized districts,
- Wilhelm I (emperor of Germany)
William I was a German emperor from 1871, as well as king of Prussia from 1861. He was a sovereign whose conscientiousness and self-restraint fitted him for collaboration with stronger statesmen in raising his monarchy and the house of Hohenzollern to predominance in Germany. He was the second son
- Wilhelm II (emperor of Germany)
William II was the German emperor (kaiser) and king of Prussia from 1888 to the end of World War I in 1918, known for his frequently militaristic manner as well as for his vacillating policies. William was the eldest child of Crown Prince Frederick (later Emperor Frederick III) and of Victoria, the
- Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (bildungsroman by Goethe)
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, classic bildungsroman by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in German in four volumes in 1795–96 as Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre (1821; published in final form, 1829; Wilhelm Meister’s Travels), Goethe’s final novel, can be considered
- Wilhelm Meister’s Years of Travel (work by Goethe)
German literature: Weimar Classicism: Goethe and Schiller: …continuation, Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre (1821–29; Wilhelm Meister’s Years of Travel), the notion of a significant destiny toward which the hero develops—inward compulsion finding direction through experience, the ego-driven goal of formation of the inner kernel of selfhood—gives way to a more modest ideal of restraint and self-control achieved through adapting…
- Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (bildungsroman by Goethe)
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, classic bildungsroman by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in German in four volumes in 1795–96 as Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre (1821; published in final form, 1829; Wilhelm Meister’s Travels), Goethe’s final novel, can be considered
- Wilhelm Meisters theatralische Sendung (novel by Goethe)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: First Weimar period (1776–86) of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: …Wilhelm Meisters theatralische Sendung (The Theatrical Mission of Wilhelm Meister), each year until 1785. In a rough-and-tumble, ironic way, reminiscent of the English novelist Henry Fielding, it tells the story of a gifted young man who aims for stardom in a reformed German national theatrical culture. At first the…
- Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre (work by Goethe)
German literature: Weimar Classicism: Goethe and Schiller: …continuation, Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre (1821–29; Wilhelm Meister’s Years of Travel), the notion of a significant destiny toward which the hero develops—inward compulsion finding direction through experience, the ego-driven goal of formation of the inner kernel of selfhood—gives way to a more modest ideal of restraint and self-control achieved through adapting…
- Wilhelm of Holland (king of Germany)
William was a German king from Oct. 3, 1247, elected by the papal party in Germany as antiking in opposition to Conrad IV and subsequently gaining general recognition. As William II, he was also count of Holland, succeeding his father, Count Floris IV, in 1234. William was elected German king to
- Wilhelm Tell (play by Schiller)
William Tell, verse drama in five acts by German dramatist Friedrich Schiller, published and produced in 1804 as Wilhelm Tell. During the 15th century, in the Swiss canton of Uri, the legendary hero Wilhelm Tell leads the people of the forest cantons in rebellion against tyrannical Austrian rule.
- Wilhelm von Hirsau (German abbot)
William Of Hirsau was a German cleric, Benedictine abbot, and monastic reformer, the principal German advocate of Pope Gregory VII’s clerical reforms, which sought to eliminate clerical corruption and free ecclesiastical offices from secular control. William was sent as a child to the monastic
- Wilhelm von Holland (king of Germany)
William was a German king from Oct. 3, 1247, elected by the papal party in Germany as antiking in opposition to Conrad IV and subsequently gaining general recognition. As William II, he was also count of Holland, succeeding his father, Count Floris IV, in 1234. William was elected German king to
- Wilhelm zu Wied (German prince)
Albania: Creating the new state: …also appointed a German prince, Wilhelm zu Wied, as ruler of Albania. Wilhelm arrived in Albania in March 1914, but his unfamiliarity with Albania and its problems, compounded by complications arising from the outbreak of World War I, led him to depart from Albania six months later. The war plunged…
- Wilhelm, C. (designer)
stagecraft: Costume of the 18th and 19th centuries: The ingenious designer C. Wilhelm (original name C. Pitcher) translated insects, flowers, birds, and reptiles into dance costumes. The main interest of most designers, however, lay in framing the female figure, and many theatrical costumes were designed to reveal as much as the law permitted.
- Wilhelm, Hoyt (American baseball player)
Hoyt Wilhelm was an American baseball player who pitched knuckleballs that fluttered over the plate, baffling major league batters for 21 seasons. Wilhelm served in the U.S. Army during World War II and did not begin his major league career until 1952, as a 29-year-old relief pitcher for the New
- Wilhelm, James Hoyt (American baseball player)
Hoyt Wilhelm was an American baseball player who pitched knuckleballs that fluttered over the plate, baffling major league batters for 21 seasons. Wilhelm served in the U.S. Army during World War II and did not begin his major league career until 1952, as a 29-year-old relief pitcher for the New
- Wilhelm, Warren, Jr. (American politician)
Bill de Blasio is an American Democratic politician who was mayor of New York City (2014–21). He also served as Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager for her successful senatorial run in 2000 and as a New York City councillor (2002–09). At age five he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his
- Wilhelmina (margravine of Bayreuth)
Wilhelmina was the sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia and margravine of Bayreuth (from 1735). She shared the unhappy childhood of her brother, whose friend and confidante she remained most of her life. She married Frederick, hereditary prince of Bayreuth, in 1731; when he became margrave in
- Wilhelmina (wife of William V)
Netherlands: The Patriot movement: …to Gelderland with his wife, Wilhelmina, the sister of Prussian King Frederick II. Holland declared him deposed.
- Wilhelmina (queen of the Netherlands)
Wilhelmina was the queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948, who, through her radio broadcasts from London during World War II, made herself the symbol of Dutch resistance to German occupation. The daughter of King William III and his second wife, Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Wilhelmina became queen
- Wilhelmina Gebergte (mountains, Suriname)
Wilhelmina Gebergte, mountain range in central Suriname, forming part of South America’s granitic Precambrian Guiana Shield, extending about 70 mi (113 km) from west to east. The range divides Suriname’s western district of Nickerie from the eastern districts of Saramacca, Brokopondo, and
- Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria (queen of the Netherlands)
Wilhelmina was the queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948, who, through her radio broadcasts from London during World War II, made herself the symbol of Dutch resistance to German occupation. The daughter of King William III and his second wife, Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Wilhelmina became queen
- Wilhelmina Models Inc. (American company)
Wilhelmina Cooper: …husband, founded the modeling agency Wilhelmina Models Inc.
- Wilhelmina Peak (mountain, Indonesia)
Jayawijaya Mountains: The range’s highest point is Trikora Peak (formerly Wilhelmina Peak; 15,580 feet [4,750 metres]).
- Wilhelmine Friederike Sophie (margravine of Bayreuth)
Wilhelmina was the sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia and margravine of Bayreuth (from 1735). She shared the unhappy childhood of her brother, whose friend and confidante she remained most of her life. She married Frederick, hereditary prince of Bayreuth, in 1731; when he became margrave in
- Wilhelmj, August (German violinist)
August Wilhelmj was a German violinist whose most famous work is his arrangement of the air from J.S. Bach’s orchestral Suite in D major, which became known as the “Air on the G String.” A prodigy, he gave his first concert at the age of eight in Wiesbaden. He studied with Ferdinand David at the
- Wilhelmshaven (Germany)
Wilhelmshaven, city and port, Lower Saxony Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies on Jade Bay (Jadebusen), a North Sea inlet on the coast of East Friesland (Ostfriesland). Founded in 1853 by William I (Wilhelm I) on land bought by Prussia from Oldenburg, it was given its present name in 1869.
- Wilhelmus Rubruquis (French explorer)
Willem Van Ruysbroeck was a French Franciscan friar whose eyewitness account of the Mongol realm is generally acknowledged to be the best written by any medieval Christian traveller. A contemporary of the English scientist and philosopher Roger Bacon, he was cited frequently in the geographical
- Wilk, Brad (American musician)
Rage Against the Machine: …1968, Irvine, California), and drummer Brad Wilk (b. September 5, 1968, Portland, Oregon).
- Wilkens, Lenny (American basketball player and coach)
Lenny Wilkens is an American professional basketball player and coach who is considered one of the game’s most accomplished playmaking guards and who won 1,332 games, the second most in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA), behind only Don Nelson. His total of 1,155 losses as a
- Wilkens, Leonard Randolph (American basketball player and coach)
Lenny Wilkens is an American professional basketball player and coach who is considered one of the game’s most accomplished playmaking guards and who won 1,332 games, the second most in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA), behind only Don Nelson. His total of 1,155 losses as a
- Wilkerson, Isabel (American author)
Isabel Wilkerson is known for chronicling the lives of unsung African Americans and exposing deeply embedded systems of social injustice in her reporting for The New York Times and in her celebrated works of nonfiction: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020) and The Warmth of Other Suns: The
- Wilkes Land (region, Antarctica)
Wilkes Land, region in Antarctica, bordering the Indian Ocean between Queen Mary and George V coasts (100°–142°20′ E). The region is almost entirely covered by the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), averaging from 6,000 to 9,500 feet (1,800 to 2,900 meters) above sea level. First sighted (1838–42) by
- Wilkes University (university, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States)
Wilkes-Barre: Wilkes-Barre is the seat of Wilkes University (1933), King’s College (1946), and the Wilkes-Barre campus of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State Wilkes-Barre; 1916). Tablets mark the sites of Fort Wilkes-Barre, Forty Fort, and the Wyoming Massacre. Harveys Lake and resorts in the Pocono Mountains are nearby. A flooding of the…
- Wilkes, Charles (American explorer and naval officer)
Charles Wilkes was a U.S. naval officer who explored the region of Antarctica named for him. Wilkes entered the navy as a midshipman in 1818, became a lieutenant in 1826, and in 1830 was placed in charge of the depot of instruments and charts from which the Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office
- Wilkes, John (British journalist and politician)
John Wilkes was an outspoken 18th-century journalist and popular London politician who came to be regarded as a victim of persecution and as a champion of liberty because he was repeatedly expelled from Parliament. His widespread popular support may have been the beginning of English Radicalism.
- Wilkes, Maurice (British computer scientist)
Maurice Wilkes was a British computer science pioneer who helped build the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), the first full-size stored-program computer, and invented microprogramming. Wilkes became interested in electronics as a boy and studied that subject in his spare time
- Wilkes, Sir Maurice Vincent (British computer scientist)
Maurice Wilkes was a British computer science pioneer who helped build the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), the first full-size stored-program computer, and invented microprogramming. Wilkes became interested in electronics as a boy and studied that subject in his spare time
- Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania, United States)
Wilkes-Barre, city, seat (1786) of Luzerne county, northeastern Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies in the Wyoming Valley and along the Susquehanna River, 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Scranton. Wilkes-Barre is the hub of a metropolitan district embracing more than 30 contiguous municipalities. Its
- Wilkeson, Leon (American musician)
Lynyrd Skynyrd: …28, 2009, Orange Park, Florida), Leon Wilkeson (b. April 2, 1952—d. July 27, 2001, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida), Bob Burns (b. November 24, 1950, Jacksonville—d. April 3, 2015, Cartersville, Georgia), and Artimus Pyle (b. July 15, 1948, Louisville, Kentucky).
- Wilkie, Sir David (British painter)
Sir David Wilkie was a British genre and portrait painter and draftsman known for his anecdotal style. Wilkie, who had studied in Edinburgh, entered the Royal Academy schools in London in 1805, exhibited there from 1806, and was elected a royal academician in 1811. His first important painting,
- Wilkins Ice Shelf (ice shelf, Antarctica)
Wilkins Ice Shelf, a large body of floating ice covering the greater part of Wilkins Sound off the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Both the ice shelf and the sound were named for Australian-born British explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins, who first scouted the region by airplane in late
- Wilkins, Dominique (American basketball player)
Atlanta Hawks: …post-draft trade that brought rookie Dominique Wilkins into the fold. Wilkins—known as “the Human Highlight Film” because of his impressively acrobatic slam dunks—led the Hawks to four consecutive 50-win seasons in the 1980s and made his mark as one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history. His individual accomplishments…
- Wilkins, John (British bishop and scientist)
dictionary: Specialized dictionaries: …first important exponent in Bishop John Wilkins, whose Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language was published in 1668. A plan of this sort was carried out by Peter Mark Roget with his Thesaurus, published in 1852 and many times reprinted and reedited. Although philosophically oriented, Roget’s work…
- Wilkins, Mac (American athlete)
Mac Wilkins is an American world-record-holding discus thrower (1976–78). He was the first man ever to break the 70-metre (230-foot) barrier. Wilkins took part during his college years (1969–73) at the University of Oregon (Eugene) in all weight-throwing events—discus, hammer throw, shot put, and
- Wilkins, Mary Eleanor (American author)
Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman was an American writer known for her stories and novels of frustrated lives in New England villages. Mary Wilkins moved with her family to Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1867. She lived at home after studying for a year in 1870–71 at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount
- Wilkins, Maurice (British biophysicist)
Maurice Wilkins was a New Zealand-born British biophysicist whose X-ray diffraction studies of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) proved crucial to the determination of DNA’s molecular structure by James D. Watson and Francis Crick. For this work the three scientists were jointly awarded the 1962 Nobel
- Wilkins, Maurice (American athlete)
Mac Wilkins is an American world-record-holding discus thrower (1976–78). He was the first man ever to break the 70-metre (230-foot) barrier. Wilkins took part during his college years (1969–73) at the University of Oregon (Eugene) in all weight-throwing events—discus, hammer throw, shot put, and
- Wilkins, Maurice Hugh Frederick (British biophysicist)
Maurice Wilkins was a New Zealand-born British biophysicist whose X-ray diffraction studies of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) proved crucial to the determination of DNA’s molecular structure by James D. Watson and Francis Crick. For this work the three scientists were jointly awarded the 1962 Nobel
- Wilkins, Roy (American human-rights activist)
Roy Wilkins was a Black American civil rights leader who served as the executive director (1955–77) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was often referred to as the senior statesman of the American civil rights movement. After graduation from the University
- Wilkins, Sir George Hubert (Australian explorer)
Sir George Hubert Wilkins was an Australian-born British explorer who advanced the use of the airplane and pioneered the use of the submarine for polar research. He, along with American aviator Carl Ben Eielson, are noted for having made the first transpolar flight across the Arctic by airplane as
- Wilkins, William (British architect)
Western architecture: Great Britain: One of the earliest was William Wilkins’s Downing College, Cambridge (1806–11), with details closely copied from the Erechtheum on the Acropolis at Athens. Following this were Sir Robert Smirke’s Covent Garden Theatre (1809), London’s first Greek Doric building; Wilkins’s Grange Park, Hampshire (1809), a monumental attempt to cram an English…
- Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) (United States satellite)
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), a U.S. satellite launched in 2001 that mapped irregularities in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The CMB was discovered in 1964 when German American physicist Arno Penzias and American astronomer Robert Wilson determined that noise in a microwave
- Wilkinson’s catalyst (chemical compound)
Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson: …bonding, particularly his discovery of Wilkinson’s catalyst, a homogeneous hydrogenation catalyst for alkenes, had widespread significance for organic and inorganic chemistry and proved to have important industrial applications.
- Wilkinson, Anne Raven (American dancer)
Raven Wilkinson was an American dancer who became the first Black woman to dance with a major classical ballet company. Wilkinson was interested in dance from a young age. After her mother, who had studied ballet, took her at age five to see the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform Coppélia,
- Wilkinson, David (American inventor)
David Wilkinson was an American inventor. Wilkinson was the son of a blacksmith, and in 1797 he invented a gauge and sliding lathe for turning iron and brass, which proved valuable to the U.S. government in constructing machines for its armouries. He produced much of the manufacturing machinery
- Wilkinson, David Todd (American physicist)
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP): …in tribute to American physicist David Todd Wilkinson, who died in 2002 and who was a contributor to both WMAP and WMAP’s predecessor, the Cosmic Background Explorer.
- Wilkinson, James (United States military officer)
James Wilkinson was an American soldier and adventurer, a double agent whose role in the Aaron Burr conspiracy still divides historians. Wilkinson served in the American Revolution (1775–83) as adjutant general under General Horatio Gates (1777–78). In 1784 he settled in Kentucky, where he was
- Wilkinson, James H. (English mathematician)
James H. Wilkinson was an English mathematician and winner of the 1970 A.M. Turing Award, the highest honour in computer science. Wilkinson is recognized as one of the greatest pioneers in numerical analysis, particularly numerical linear algebra. At age 16 Wilkinson won a mathematics scholarship
- Wilkinson, Jemima (American religious leader)
Jemima Wilkinson was an American religious leader who founded an unorthodox Christian sect, the Universal Friends, many of whose adherents declared her a messiah. Wilkinson grew up in a Quaker family and early displayed a strong interest in religion. Her attendance at meetings of a New Light
- Wilkinson, John (English ironmaster)
John Wilkinson was a British industrialist known as “the great Staffordshire ironmaster” who found new applications for iron and who devised a boring machine essential to the success of James Watt’s steam engine. At the age of 20 Wilkinson moved to Staffordshire and built Bilston’s first iron
- Wilkinson, Norman (British artist)
theatre: British innovations: Norman Wilkinson and Albert Rutherston, artists with reputations outside the theatre, were his principal designers, and their settings typically consisted of brightly painted, draped curtains. Granville-Barker’s style and particularly the use of drapes in the settings reflect clearly the influence of Craig’s early work for…
- Wilkinson, Raven (American dancer)
Raven Wilkinson was an American dancer who became the first Black woman to dance with a major classical ballet company. Wilkinson was interested in dance from a young age. After her mother, who had studied ballet, took her at age five to see the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform Coppélia,
- Wilkinson, Sir Geoffrey (British chemist)
Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson was a British chemist, joint recipient with Ernst Fischer of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1973 for their independent work in organometallic chemistry. After studying at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, Wilkinson worked with the Atomic
- Wilkinson, Sir John Gardner (British archaeologist)
Egyptology: …expedition (1842–45), and the Englishman Sir John Gardner Wilkinson spent 12 years (1821–33) copying and collecting material in Egypt. Their work made copies of monuments and texts widely available to European scholars. Muḥammad ʿAlī’s government (1805–49) opened Egypt to Europeans and consular agents, and adventurers began to collect antiquities, often…
- will (law)
will, legal means by which an owner of property disposes of his assets in the event of his death. The term is also used for the written instrument in which the testator’s dispositions are expressed. There is also an oral will, called a nuncupative will, valid only in certain jurisdictions, but
- will (psychology and philosophy)
history of Europe: Renaissance thought: …not in the exercise of will to shape destiny but in the use of reason to contemplate and perhaps to tolerate fate. In taking a new, hard look at the human condition, Guicciardini represents the decline of humanist optimism.
- Will & Grace (American television program)
Harry Connick, Jr.: …(2002–06; 2017) on the sitcom Will & Grace, and in 2016–18 he hosted the daytime talk show Harry. In the TV movie Annie Live! (2021), Connick played Daddy Warbucks.
- Will Eisner Comic Industry Award (comic book award)
Will Eisner: Tributes and legacy: The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were established in his name in 1988. The Eisners, which are considered the Academy Awards of the American comic book industry, are presented annually at the San Diego Comic-Con.
- Will Energy Tension Creation (sculpture by Kemeny)
Zoltan Kemeny: Will Energy Tension Creation (1958) is a major work, as is Metallo-Magic (1963). Kemeny received numerous commissions for large public works, such as a 360-foot- (110-metre-) long brass panel suspended in the foyer of the Frankfurt Municipal Theatre in Germany.