Henry Marshall Tory (1864–1947) was a notable figure in Canadian education and academia. He is best known for his role as the first president of the University of Alberta, where he served from 1908 to 1928. Tory was instrumental in shaping the university's early development, promoting a vision of education that included not only traditional academic disciplines but also a strong emphasis on research and community service.
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks or carbon by measuring the abundance of specific radioactive isotopes within the sample. This method relies on the principle of radioactive decay, where unstable isotopes (parent isotopes) transform into stable isotopes (daughter isotopes) over time at a known rate, characterized by their half-lives. For example, in carbon dating, carbon-14 (a radioactive isotope of carbon) decays into nitrogen-14 over time.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, or INGV) is an Italian research institute dedicated to the study of geology, geophysics, and volcanology. Established in 1999, the INGV focuses on monitoring seismic and volcanic activity in Italy, which is known for its significant geological hazards.
A Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR) is a geological feature typically found in submarine environments, particularly in areas where gas hydrates are present. It is characterized by a distinct reflection observed in seismic data, which indicates a boundary where changes in material properties occur, typically due to the presence of gas hydrate saturation. The BSR forms below the seabed and is associated with the phase change from gas hydrate to free gas.
Episodic tremor and slip (ETS) is a phenomenon observed in subduction zones, particularly in regions where tectonic plates interact. It refers to a cyclical behavior of the crust that involves both low-frequency tremor and slow slip events on faults. ### Components of ETS: 1. **Tremor**: This involves the continuous release of low-frequency seismic waves. These tremors are not typically felt on the surface but can be detected by sensitive seismometers.
Gassmann's equation is a fundamental equation in geophysics and petrophysics that describes the relationship between the elastic properties of saturated porous rocks and their fluid content. It allows for the estimation of the bulk modulus of a saturated rock when the properties of the dry rock and the fluids filling its pores are known.
The Oxford Concordance Program (OCP) is a software tool developed by Oxford University Press that allows users to create concordances, which are alphabetical lists of the words present in a text along with their immediate contexts. The OCP is often used in linguistic and textual analysis, enabling researchers, scholars, and students to study the frequency and distribution of words in various texts.
Seyfert galaxies are a class of active galaxies characterized by their bright nuclei, which are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes at their centers. They are named after the American astronomer Carl Seyfert, who first classified them in 1943. Seyfert galaxies are divided into two main types: 1. **Seyfert Type 1**: These galaxies exhibit broad emission lines in their optical spectra, indicating fast-moving gas in the vicinity of the black hole.
The Galactic disc is the flat, rotating region of a galaxy that contains most of its stars, gas, and dust. It is typically where the majority of the galaxy's star formation occurs and is characterized by a high concentration of young stars and nebulae, as well as older stars. In spiral galaxies, the Galactic disc is distinctively structured into spiral arms that are regions of higher density where new star formation is actively taking place.
A Hess diagram, also known as a Hess energy diagram, is a graphical representation used in thermochemistry to illustrate the relationships between the enthalpy changes of a series of chemical reactions. It is based on Hess's Law, which states that the total enthalpy change for a reaction is the sum of the enthalpy changes for the individual steps of the reaction, regardless of the pathway taken from reactants to products.
The Jellyfish Galaxy, also known as ESO 137-001, is a visually striking galaxy located in the constellation Hydra. It is particularly notable for its distinctive tail of gas and stars, which appears to flow behind it like the tentacles of a jellyfish—hence its nickname. This unusual feature is believed to be the result of the galaxy moving through the hot gas of the Fornax Cluster, which strips away gas and dust from the galaxy's outer regions.
Hydrogeophysics is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles of hydrogeology and geophysics to study subsurface water resources and the movement of groundwater. It involves the application of geophysical techniques to investigate and characterize hydrogeological systems.
A list of galaxies typically refers to a compilation of different galaxies observed in the universe, categorized by various criteria such as their type, size, distance from Earth, or other astronomical features. Here are some well-known types of galaxies along with examples: ### Types of Galaxies: 1. **Spiral Galaxies**: Characterized by their spiral arms.
"Local Volume" can refer to different concepts in various fields, so its meaning can depend on the context in which it is used. Here are a few interpretations: 1. **In Astronomy**: Local Volume can refer to a region of space surrounding the Milky Way galaxy that includes nearby galaxies.
"Moonlight" can refer to several different things depending on the context: 1. **Natural Phenomenon**: Moonlight is the light that is reflected off the surface of the moon and reaches the Earth. It is often associated with the beauty of night-time landscapes and has been a subject of inspiration for art, literature, and various cultural references.
"Oval" can refer to different concepts depending on the context: 1. **Geometric Shape**: An oval is a closed curve in a plane that resembles a flattened circle. It is commonly associated with shapes that do not have straight edges, often elliptical in appearance, characterized by a smooth and curved outline.
Optical glass is a type of glass specifically designed to manipulate light in various optical applications. It has unique properties that make it suitable for use in lenses, prisms, and other optical components. The characteristics of optical glass include: 1. **High Transparency**: Optical glass is designed to have minimal absorption of light in the visible spectrum, ensuring that as much light as possible passes through without distortion.
A supermassive black hole is a type of black hole that has a mass that is millions to billions of times greater than that of the Sun. These black holes are typically found at the centers of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. Key characteristics of supermassive black holes include: 1. **Mass**: They range from about one million solar masses to several billion solar masses. Their immense gravity affects the motions of stars and gas in their vicinity.
An electric motor is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors. Electric motors operate based on electromagnetic principles and are commonly used in various applications, ranging from household appliances to industrial machinery. ### Key Components of an Electric Motor: 1. **Stator**: The stationary part of the motor that produces a magnetic field. It typically consists of coils of wire wound around a core.
Electrical steel, also known as silicon steel or electrical grade steel, is a specialized type of steel that is optimized for its magnetic properties. It is primarily used in the construction of electrical equipment, such as transformers, electric motors, generators, and inductors. The unique characteristics of electrical steel arise from its low carbon content and the addition of silicon, which enhances its electrical resistivity and reduces energy losses during operation.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 2.
    You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either https://OurBigBook.com or as a static website
    .
    Figure 3.
    Visual Studio Code extension installation
    .
    Figure 4.
    Visual Studio Code extension tree navigation
    .
    Figure 5.
    Web editor
    . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
    Video 4.
    OurBigBook Visual Studio Code extension editing and navigation demo
    . Source.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact