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G6-233

The G6-233 is a Personal Computer by Gateway 2000. It is built around an Intel

233Mhz Pentium II Processor with 64MB of SDRAM (expandable to 384MB), 512KB L2

Cache, 4.3GB, 10ms Ultra ATA Hard Drive, 1 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive,

Mitsumi 32X 90ms CDROM, STB AGP 3D Graphics Accelerator with 4MB DRAM, and

supplied with a 15 inch EV500 TCO-92 0.28dp Monitor.

Gabardine

Gabardine is a fabric particularly suited to water-proofing, composed of fine

botany wool yarn warp, and cotton weft. The name is also given to a raincoat

made from the material.

Gabelle

Gabelle was a tax on salt imposed in France from 1286 until 1790. It was levied

unequally and caused a lot of discontent.

Gabilla

Gabilla is a Cuban measurement of tobacco. One gabilla is comprised of 36 or 40

leaves, 4 gabillas comprise 1 hand and 80 hands comprise 1 bale.

Gadolinium

Gadolinium is a silvery white metal element with the symbol Gd of the group of

rare earth metals. It is found in the mineral gadolinite. It is ferromagnetic

(strongly attracted by a magnet). The metal is relatively stable in dry air,

but in moist air it tarnishes with the formation of a loosely adhering oxide

film which "spalls" off and exposes more surface to oxidation. The metal reacts

slowly with water and is soluble in dilute acid. Gadolinium has the highest

thermal neutron capture cross-section of any known element. Gadolinium is used

for making gadolinium yttrium garnets which have microwave applications.

Gadolinium compounds are used for making phosphors for colour TV tubes.

Gadolinium is also used in alloys and CD disks and has superconductive

properties. Solutions of gadolinium compounds are used as intravenous contrasts

to enhance images in patients undergoing MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

Gaff

A gaff is a spar used in ships to extend the upper edge of fore-and-aft sails

which are not set on stays.

Galactose

Galactose (lactoglucose) is a sugar formed together with glucose when lactose

is boiled in dilute acids. It occurs naturally in ivy.

Galalith

Galalith (erinoid) is a synthetic plastic material manufactured by the

interaction of casein and formaldehyde. It is odourless, insoluble in water,

and only with difficulty inflammable.

Galaxy

A galaxy is a congregation of stars held together by gravity.

Galaxy is a shareware, wordstar compatible word processor for the IBM PC.

Gall

A gall is a growth caused on plants of various kinds by parasitic mites

(Phytoptidae).

Galley-slave

A galley-slave was a convict forced to work at the oar on board a galley, being

chained to the deck. It was a punishment common in France until 1748.

Gallic Acid

Gallic Acid (Trihydroxy-benzoic Acid) is an acid which was first procured from

the gall-nut by Scheele in 1786. It occurs in the seeds of the mango, acorn,

tea, walnut and many other plants and is a decomposition product of tannic

acid. It is used as an important black dye and is an ingredient in ink.

Galliot

A galliot was a Dutch or Flemish ship used for transporting cargo in the late

19th and early 20th century. It had very rounded ribs and a flatish bottom,

with a mizzen-mast placed near the stern, carrying a square main-sail and

main-top-sail.

Gallium

Gallium is a rare metal element with the symbol Ga.

Gallon

The gallon is a unit of capacity measurement equivalent to 4 quarts or 4.546

litres, 8 pints.

Galvanized Iron

Galvanized iron is corrugated iron which has been dipped in melted zinc to give

it a thin coating.

Galvanometer

A galvanometer is an instrument for measuring an electric current by the

deflection of a magnetic needle. Basically, it is comprised of a coil beneath a

suspended magnetic needle. When electric current passes through the coil it

sets up a magnetic field and attracts the needle, the stronger the current the

more powerful the magnetic field and the more pronounced the needle's

deflection from the earth's magnetic field.

Gamboge

Gamboge is a gum-resin obtained from a tree growing in the Far East. It is used

as a paint-pigment, in the manufacture of varnish, in tanning and as a

purgative.

Gamma ray

In chemistry, gamma rays are similar to X-rays, forming part of the radiation

of a radioactive substance.

Gamma Rays

Gamma Rays are a short, intense burst of electromagnetic radiation emitted by

an unstable nucleus of radioactive material. Gamma rays have no electrical

charge and can penetrate even thick lead and concrete.

Gamma-linolenic-acid

Gamma-linolenic-acid is a fatty acid found in evening primrose oil, black

currant seeds, borage oil and mother's milk.

Ganja

Ganja was originally the Indian name for the dried shoots of the female hemp

plant which have hashish resin on them. Today it is a Jamaican slang expression

for cannabis and hashish.

Garmisch

Garmisch is a bobsleigh course at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps.

It was built for the 1936 winter Olympic games but opened in time to stage the

world championships in 1934.

Gas

Gas is a form of matter where the molecules move randomly.

Gas gangrene

see "Gangrene"

Gas Oil

Gas Oil is a liquid petroleum distillate with a viscosity somewhat below that

of lubricating oils. It is used in the manufacture of coal gas and as the

charging stock in cracking plants where it is broken down for use as motor

spirit.

Gaseous

see "gas"

Gauge

A gauge is any scientific measuring instrument - for example, a wire gauge or a

pressure gauge. The term is also applied to the width of a railroad or tramway

track.

Gauss

Gauss is the c.g.s. unit (symbol Gs) of magnetic induction or magnetic flux

density, replaced by the SI unit, the tesla, but still commonly used. It is

equal to one line of magnetic flux per square centimetre. The Earth's magnetic

field is about 0.5 Gs, and changes to it over time are measured in gammas (one

gamma equals 10-5 gauss).

Gavotte

The gavotte was a stately and ceremonious dance, like the minuet, which

developed into a stage dance too elaborate for performance in the ball-room.

GCHQ

GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is the centre of the British

government's electronic surveillance operations, in Cheltenham,

Gloucestershire. It monitors broadcasts of various kinds from all over the

world. It was established during the Great War, and was successful in breaking

the German Enigma code in 1940. Controversy arose in the 1980s when the

Thatcher government banned employees at GCHQ from being members of a Trade

Union, thereby implying that Union members were a threat to national security.

GCOS

GCOS is a quick-and-dirty clone of System/360 DOS that emerged from GE around

1970. Originally it was called GECOS (the General Electric Comprehensive

Operating System). Later it was changed to support primitive timesharing and

transaction processing. After the buyout of GE's computer division by

Honeywell, the name was changed to General Comprehensive Operating System

(GCOS). Other OS groups at Honeywell began referring to it as `God's Chosen

Operating System', allegedly in reaction to the GCOS crowd's uninformed and

snotty attitude about the superiority of their product.

Gear

A gear is a toothed wheel that transmits the turning movement of one shaft to

another shaft. Gear wheels may be used in pairs, or in threes if both shafts

are to turn in the same direction. The gear ratio - the ratio of the number of

teeth on the two wheels - determines the torque ratio, the turning force on the

output shaft compared with the turning force on the input shaft. The ratio of

the angular velocities of the shafts is the inverse of the gear ratio.

The common type of gear for parallel shafts is the spur gear, with straight

teeth parallel to the shaft axis. The helical gear has teeth cut along sections

of a helix or corkscrew shape; the double form of the helix gear is the most

efficient for energy transfer. Bevil gears, with tapering teeth set on the base

of a cone, are used to connect intersecting shafts.

Geiger counter

A Geiger counter is any of a number of devices named after Hans Geiger, and

used for detecting nuclear radiation and/or measuring its intensity by counting

the number of ionising particles produced. It detects the momentary current

that passes between electrodes in a suitable gas when a nuclear particle or a

radiation pulse causes the ionisation of that gas. The electrodes are connected

to electronic devices that enable the number of particles passing to be

measured. The increased frequency of measured particles indicates the intensity

of radiation.

Geiger-Muller, Geiger-Klemperer, and Rutherford-Geiger counters are all devices

often referred to loosely as Geiger counters.

Geiger-Muller Tube

The Geiger-Muller Tube is an electron tube forming an ionisation chamber and

used as a radiation counter or meter.

Geissler Tube

The Geissler Tube is a discharge tube, often of ornamental shape, and exhausted

to a pressure of a few millimeters of mercury. They are used for demonstrating

the luminous effects accompanying electric discharges through rarefied gases.

Gel

In chemistry, a gel is a semi-rigid colloid.

Gelatine

Gelatine (glutin) is a compound of animal origin obtained by the hydrolysis of

an albuminoid protein, collagen, found in the bones, catrilages and connective

tissues. It is used in the manufacture of soups, jellies and pharmaceutical

capsules for drugs.

GEM Artline

Artline by Digital Research, is a program for creating illustrations, mastheads

and logos for desktop publishing. With the ability to trace scanned images and

seven different zoom levels ranging from 6% to 4000%, its magnifier tool in

100% view shows a screen picture dot for dot as the printed picture would

appear on a 300 dots per inch laser printer. The drawing tools include

rectangle, ellipse, text and symbol. The symbol selector allows a library of

symbols to be loaded and viewed interactively. A sophisticated drawing tool

called "The Quill" can be used to draw straight lines and curves, whether

simple, compound or joined. Points on a curve can be selected and moved. Anchor

points and direction points can also be shown and curve segments copied. The

Quill works with Bezier or spline curves. Text can be edited as graphic

elements to produce, for example, trailing shadow effects and can also be

arranged around circles and curves. File formats supported include .IMG, .PCX

and TIFF. Artline generates GEM or EPS formats which can be loaded directly

into Ventura Publisher or PageMaker. A Bitstream Fontware installation kit is

provided and a serif and sans serif typeface are included with Artline.

GEM Draw Plus

GEM Draw Plus by Digital Research, is a freehand-drawing program that runs

under the GEM/3 desktop. As with other drawing programs, GEM Draw Plus provides

a desktop of tools, similar to the way the Macintosh works. You can choose

elements such as lines, boxes, circles, and other polygons and text in multiple

fonts, sizes, and styles when creating an image. The product can be used to

create organisation charts, page borders, floor plans, logos, and other types

of diagrams. GEM Draw Plus has a library of over 100 pre-drawn icons and

symbols which can be incorporated. Any picture you draw can be stored in your

personal picture library and used in other drawings. Because GEM offers a

windowing environment, graphics can be cut and pasted between windows. GEM Draw

Plus offers a choice of colours, patterns, line widths, and type styles. The

zoom feature uses arrows and scroll bars to display areas of your picture for

close detailed work. A Snap command automatically returns you to the spot on

the grid where you were last working.

Gemini

Gemini is a sign of the zodiac.

Genifer

Genifer was an advanced dBase applications generator for experienced dBase

users. It simplified the process of creating sophisticated applications and was

an efficient tool for decreasing application development time. The product

generated structured and noted application code that could be modified.

Database design features included the ability to set default field values,

define table, file, or range validation (including displaying an error message

if entry is not valid), and defining dBase picture formatting. Genifer wrote

dBase programs by scanning menus, report formats, and data entry screens that

were developed with its own text editor or with a word processor. A

field-painting character of your choice told Genifer where to place fields.

When exiting the text editor or word processor, users could instruct the

product where fields were to be created. Genifer was an excellent tool for

prototyping applications. It also helped document an application by maintaining

a data dictionary that stored information about the databases and the fields,

and a layout file that stored all menus, screens, and report layouts. The data

dictionary and layout file could be modified and printed. Custom features let

you configure Genifer for your own word processor. You could configure the

report-page definition and include comments in the dBase program code or help

screens in the application. Genifer supported a full template language that

supports all dialects of dBase such as Clipper and FoxBASE+.

Genus

In scientific classification, a genus is an assemblage of species possessing

certain characteristics in common by which they are distinguished from others.

Geode

A geode is a round hollow nodule containing earthy matters, sometimes quartz,

sometimes agate. Geodes are found in most volcanic rocks and are formed by

water depositing materials in the hollows of these rocks.

Geophagism

Geophagism is the practice of eating some kind of earthy matter, such as rock

or chalk. It is most common amongst non-industrialised races, and was once

thought to allay hunger. However, new evidence suggests that some peoples

obtain valuable minerals in their diet from geophagism, as those minerals are

not available in their normal food.

Georgian

Georgian is a period of English architecture, furniture making, and decorative

art between 1714 and 1830. The architecture is mainly Classical in style,

although external details and interiors were often rich in Rococo carving.

Furniture at this time was often made of mahogany and satinwood, and mass

production became increasingly common; designers included Thomas Chippendale,

George Hepplewhite, and Thomas Sheraton. The silver of this period is

particularly fine, and ranges from the earlier, simple forms to the ornate, and

from the Neo-Classical style of Robert Adam to the later, more decorated

pre-Victorian taste.

Geostationary orbit

A geostationary orbit is a circular path 35,900 km above the Earth's equator on

which a satellite takes 24 hours, moving from west to east, to complete an

orbit, thus appearing to hang stationary over one place on the Earth's surface.

Geostationary orbits are used particularly for communications satellites and

weather satellites and were first thought of by the author Arthur C Clarke.

Geosynchronous Orbit

Geosynchronous Orbit is a position at an approximate altitude of 37 km above

the Equator, where a velocity of about 2 km per hour in the same direction as

Earth's rotation makes a satellite appear stationary over the Earth's surface.

At such a point, ground-based microwave antennae can remain fixed and achieve

linkage with transponders on board the satellite to produce a microwave relay

between points as much as one-third of the way around the globe, or about 13

km; this concept first proposed by British physicist and science fiction writer

Arthur C. Clarke in a 1947 publication.

Geothermal energy

Geothermal energy is energy extracted for heating and electricity generation

from natural steam, hot water, or hot dry rocks in the Earth's crust. Water is

pumped down through an injection well where it passes through joints in the hot

rocks. It rises to the surface through a recovery well and may be converted to

steam or run through a heat exchanger. Dry steam may be directed through

turbines to produce electricity. It is an important source of energy in

volcanically active areas such as Iceland and New Zealand.

Geotropic

Geotropic is a biological term describing plants whose roots grow downwards

into the soil in response to gravity.

Geotropism

In botany, the term geotropism refers to a disposition or tendency to turn

towards the earth.

Geranial

Geranial (citral) is a pleasant-smelling aldehyde which occurs in various

essential oils. It can be obtained from lemon-grass oil and is used in the

manufacture of perfumes.

German

German is a term used to denote someone or something from Germany.

German Silver

see "Nickel Silver"

Germanium

Germanium is a metal element with the symbol Ge used in the manufacture of

electronic semiconductors. It has low conductivity at room temperature, but

increasing conductivity with increases of temperature.

Germination

Germination is the sprouting of seeds into plants. It takes place after the

seeds have been shed, when ripening changes continue. The process begins with

the uptake of water by the seed. The embryonic root, or radicle, is normally

the first organ to emerge, followed by the embryonic shoot, or plumule. Food

reserves, either within the endosperm or from the cotyledons, are broken down

to nourish the rapidly growing seedling. Germination is considered to have

ended with the production of the first true leaves.

Gerontology

Gerontology is the study of the physiological, social, and psychological

processes of ageing.

Gestation

Gestation is the period which elapses between the impregnation of any mammal

and the birth of the offspring. Gestation varies from 25 days in the case of

the mouse to 620 days for an elephant, with the normal human gestation lasting

270 days (9 months).

GetBack

GetBack by MicroTools Inc. is a full featured GUI backup and restore utility (a

text based interface is also present for slower machines). It can backup up to

four megabytes per minute. It includes many outstanding features including

extensive online help, mouse support, file compression, batch mode operation,

point and click directory tree selection, full, incremental and differential

backups, and multiple drive support. It formats floppy disks as needed or on

demand. Supports all DOS based networks.

Geyser

In geography, a geyser is a volcanic boiling spring. They are common in Iceland

and New Zealand.

Gezira Club

The Gezira Club is the main sporting club in Egypt and is situated close to the

centre of Cairo.

Gharri

see "Gharry"

Gharry

A gharry (gharri) was a 19th century horse-drawn hire vehicle.

Ghetto

A ghetto was a part of a city in which Jews were compelled to live, shut off

from the rest of the city and forced to pay a tax for the dubious privilege of

living there.

Gibus

The gibus is a type of opera hat named after its maker.

Gilchrist Trust

The Gilchrist Trust was a fund of money left by Dr John Gilchrist in 1841 to

promote education. The interest was applied to the support of scholarships for

young men and women after a competitive examination. Scientific lectures were

also delivered under the auspices of the trust.

Gill

The gill was an English unit of liquid measurement equivalent to 0.25 pints.

Gilli Danda

Gilli Danda is an indigenous outdoor team or individual game played in India,

Sri Lanka and Pakistan with slight variations. Basically the game involves two

sticks, one of which is propelled into the air by the other and the opposing

team try to catch it.

Gimbal

Gimbals (Cardan Suspension) are devices used chiefly on board ship for

suspending objects so that they remain vertical in spite of any inclination of

the support to which they are attached.

Gimp

Gimp was a thick, silk-covered cord used to line crinoline dresses. The term

also describes a part of a nun's head-gear.

Gin Act

The gin act of 1735 laid an excise of 5 shillings per gallon of gin and was

passed in July 1736 to combat the mania for cheap gin in Britain, resulting in

a 75% drop in Gin consumption.

Ginal

Ginal is a Jamaican term for a person who misleads other people in order to

gain tangible benefit. For example, a woman who deceives a man into supporting

her or providing her with goods by telling him that she likes him when she

really has no interest other than in material gain.

Glacier

In geography, a glacier is a massive crystalline block of ice or snow. They are

found in regions of perpetual snow.

Glass

Glass is a brittle substance made by fusing silica, an alkali and a base.

Gleek

Gleek is a three player card game that was popular in England in the 16th and

17th centuries. The name must be related to the German gleich (equal); a gleek

in this game is a set of three equal cards, and four of a kind is called a

mournival.

Glucic Acid

Glucic Acid is an acid produced by the action of alkalis on glucose or of acids

on cane-sugar.

Glucinum

Glucinum is an old name for Beryllium.

Glucose

Glucose is a simple form of sugar with the formulae c6h12o6.

Glucoside

The glucosides are a group of carbon compounds occurring in plants, and

characterised by the fact that on hydrolysis or saponification with dilute

acids a sugar, usually glucose, is formed along with other products.

Glutathione

Glutathione (GSH) is a tripeptide and accounts for over 90% of the

intracellular non-protein thiols where it functions as an antioxidant and in

the activation of T cells. It is especially important in the intracellular

removal of the free radical gydrogen peroxide because it provides a substrate

for glutathione peroxidase, the major hydrogen peroxide removing enzyme in

humans. GSH is present in foods in very small amounts, and is synthesised in

the body from other peptides - cysteine, glycine and glutamine. Cysteine and

overall protein intake are very important for the synthesis of GSH.

Gluten

Gluten is a tough elastic substance of a greyish colour which becomes brown and

brittle by drying, found in the flour of wheat and other grain. It contributes

much to the nutritive quality of flour, and gives tenacity to its paste.

Glutin

see "Gelatine"

Glycerol tri-stearate

see "Stearin"

Glycine

Glycine is a simple amino acid.

Glycogen

Glycogen is a polysaccharide retained in the liver as a carbohydrate store.

Glycol dichloride

see "Dichloroethane"

Glycol ether

Glycol ethers are general solvents, also known as cellosolves, which are used

in the semiconductor industry. They are also used in surface coatings, such as

lacquers, paints, and varnishes; fingernail polishes and removers; dyes;

writing inks; cleaners; and degreasers. Three important glycol ethers are

ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, and propylene

glycol monomethyl ether. All glycol ethers have a low vapor pressure and a high

potential for dermal absorption. They are nonflammable.

GNU

GNU (GNU's Not Unix) is a free replacement for the Berkeley UNIX computer

operating system. GNU is designed to be freely copyable, and users are

encouraged to improve it and submit their changes to the GNU library.

Go Fish

Go Fish is a card game the object of which is to collect books, which are sets

of four cards of the same rank, by asking other players for cards you think

they may have. Whoever collects most sets wins. The basic idea is very simple

and it is often thought of as a children's game.

Golden Gloves

The Golden Gloves is a famous American amateur boxing match. It was started in

1928 as an inter-cities competition between Chicago and New York, sponsored by

the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News. Winners received a gold medal

and a pair of miniature golden gloves.

Golden Ten

Golden Ten is a card game for 3 to 7 players, related to Hearts, played with a

Rook deck of 56 cards. The cards are of four colors: red, yellow, blue and

black. In each color there are cards numbered from 14 (high) to 1 (low). The

aim is to avoid wnning tricks containing red cards (especially the 5 and 10),

while trying to win the trick containing the yellow 10 if you can.

Goldschmidt Alternator

A Goldschmidt Alternator is a dynamo-electric ac generator for producing

currents of high frequency. A number of windings arranged alternatively on the

rotor and the stator are tuned to successively high frequencies. Currents of

one frequency in one of the coils, say on the rotor, produce currents of higher

frequency in one of the stator coils, and these in turn produce currents of

still higher frequencies in the next rotor coil. The process continues for the

complete series of coils, and frequencies up to some 100 khz can be produced.

Goldschmidt Process

see "Thermite Process"

Gong Zhu

Gong Zhu is a Chinese version of the card game hearts, in which the queen of

spades is the penalty card known as the pig.

Gonidia

Gonidia are the secondary, green, spherical cells in the thallus of lichens

which distinguish lichens from fungi.

Goniometer

A goniometer is an instrument for measuring solid angles, and is used in

crystallography.

Good Friday

Good Friday is a Christian festival held on the last Friday before Easter, and

remembering the crucifixion.

Gorget

A gorget was a piece of body armour for the protection of the throat.

Grain

The grain is a unit of measurement of the avoirdupois scale equivalent to

0.0648 grams. It was invented by Henry III who ordered that a grain of wheat

gathered from the middle of the ear to be the standard of weight. 12 grains to

be a pennyweight, 12 pennyweights to be an ounce and 12 ounces to be a pound

Troy.

Grains

see "grain"

Gram

Gram is the metric unit of mass; one-thousandth of a kilogram.

Gram-atomic weight

In chemistry, gram-atomic weight is one atomic weight of an element expressed

in grams.

Gram-molecular weight

In chemistry, gram-molecular weight is one molecular weight of a compound

expressed in grams.

Gramaphone

A gramaphone is a now almost obsolete device for replaying sound recordings

made on plastic disks. A disk was engraved with a spiral pattern of grooves,

and the recording reproduced by a blunt stylus of saphire or diamond which

transmitted the bumps of travelling over the grooves to a sensitive material,

originally glass or mica which then vibrated reproducing the original sound

waves. The sound was then passed to an amplifier, originally a horn and later

an electronic amplifier. The recordings for a gramaphone were made by a

phonograph, the original invented in 1877 by Edison which recorded the sound on

tinfoil, and later improved by Tainter to engrave wax disks instead.

Gramevin

see "Dalapon"

Graph Plus

Micrografx Graph Plus is a Windows-based business-presentation program designed

for creating area, bar, column, line, pie, scatter, and table charts. Charts

can be enhanced to produce three-dimensional, ranked, shadowed, logarithmic,

and log-log charts. Graph Plus lets you create and rotate chart titles (single

or multiline) and labels. The program is a good data-analysis tool. Graph Plus

runs under Microsoft Windows 2.0 or above and takes advantage of Window's

Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), and links applications to allow the transparent

sharing of data between two Windows applications. This provides automatic

updating of charts as data changes. Graph Plus uses a worksheet to enter or

import labels and data values. The worksheet offers basic spreadsheet functions

such as sorting, totalling, and addition and subtraction of rows and columns.

Graphology

Graphology is the study of a person's handwriting to obtain information about

his or her personality. Its practice is widespread in Continental Europe, and

in particular in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland

with many firms consulting graphologists for advice about which people to hire.

Graphoscope

The graphoscope is an optical apparatus used for magnifying and giving fine

effects to engravings, photographs etc. It was invented by Riswell and first

exhibited in 1871.

Graphotype

Graphotype was a process for obtaining blocks for surface-printing invented by

Witt Hitchcock in 1860. Drawings were made on blocks of chalk with a silicious

ink. When the ink dried, the soft parts were brushed away leaving the drawing

in relief and stereotypes could then be taken from the block.

Gravel

Gravel is a mixture of coarse sand and small water-worn stones. The term may

also be applied to small water-worn stones on their own.

Gravity

Gravity is the force of attraction between two objects resulting from their

mass.

Great Eastern

The Great Eastern was a British steamship built in 1858 from the designs of

Isambard Brunel. She was the largest steamship built to that date, was 692 feet

long and had a displacement of 18,915 tons. She was employed in cable laying,

and lay the first Atlantic cable and the Bombay-Suez cable.

Greaves

Greaves was body armour worn at the front of the lower part of the legs and

buckled behind the leg.

Greeks

see "Greek"

Green-Bag Inquiry

The Green-Bag Inquiry, so called from a green bag full of documents of alleged

seditions laid before parliament by Lord Sidmouth, was an inquiry held in 1817

by secret committees to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act and prohibit seditious

meetings which were frequent at the time.

Grey Coat Hospital

The Grey Coat Hospital was a hospital for girls founded in 1698 at Westminster

and reconstituted in 1873.

Grog

Grog is a nautical term for rum and water. It derived its name from admiral

Edward Vernon who wore grogram breeches and was hence called Old Grog. In

1745 he ordered his sailors to dilute their rum with water, and hence the

mixture became known as grog.

GSH

see "Glutathione"

Guardian

The Guardian is a British broadsheet newspaper tending towards a political bias

slightly left of centre and popular among school teachers and those involved in

social work.

Guignet's Green

see "Viridian"

Guitar

A guitar is a stringed musical instrument played with the fingers or a plectrum.

Gules

Gules is the heraldic name for the colour red. It ranks highest among the

colours.

Gulf-stream

The Gulf-stream is the warm north-east drift current of the north Atlantic

originating from the equatorial drift.

Gum Arabic

Gum Arabic is obtained from the acacia.

Gun Metal

Gun metal is an alloy of 90 copper to 10 tin (or sometimes zinc rather than

tin). It is a typical bronze.

Gun-wale

see "Gunwale"

Gunnal

see "Gunwale"

Gunnel

see "Gunwale"

Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot was a plan for springing a mine under the houses of

parliament and destroying the king, lords and commons there assembled. It was

conceived by Robert Catesby in 1604 and he assembled several Roman Catholics of

rank for the plot. Guy Faux was discovered laying gunpowder in the vaults on

November 4th 1605 ready for firing the next day and the plot was foiled.

Gunwale

Gunwale (gun-wale, gunnal or gunnel) is a term employed in shipbuilding for the

upper-planking covering the timber-heads round the ship, and also for the

timber around the top of a rowing boat which has rowlocks for the oars.

Gutta-percha

Gutta-percha is a tough plastic like substance. It is a resin obtained from the

Isonandra gutta tree and used in the nineteenth century for making waterproof

boot soles, ear-trumpets, door handles, and to insulate submarine cables from

salt-water.

Guys Hospital

Guys Hospital is a famous hospital in London which was founded by Thomas Guy, a

wealthy bookseller in 1721.

Gymnosperm

A gymnosperm is a plant with a naked seed, there being no proper ovary the

seeds being fertilised by the pollen coming into direct contact with the

foramen of the ovule without the intervention of a stigma.

Gyroscope

A gyroscope is any rotating body that exhibits two fundamental properties:

gyroscopic inertia, or rigidity in space, and precession, the tilting of the

axis at right angles to any force tending to alter the plane of rotation. These

properties are inherent in all rotating bodies, including the earth itself. The

term gyroscope is commonly applied to spherical, wheel-shaped, or disk-shaped

bodies that are universally mounted to be free to rotate in any direction; they

are used to demonstrate these properties or to indicate movements in space. A

gyroscope that is constrained from moving around one axis other than the axis

of rotation is sometimes called a gyrostat. In nearly all its practical

applications, the gyroscope is constrained or controlled this way, and the

prefix gyro is customarily added to the name of the application, as, for

instance, gyrocompass, gyrostabilizer, and gyropilot.

Gyroscopic Inertia

Gyroscopic inertia is the rigidity in space of a gyroscope. It is a consequence

of Newton's first law of motion which states that a body tends to continue in

its state of rest or uniform motion unless subject to outside forces. Thus, the

wheel of a gyroscope, when started spinning, tends to continue to rotate in the

same plane about the same axis in space. An example of this tendency is a

spinning top, which has freedom about two axes in addition to the spinning

axis. Another example is a rifle bullet that, because it spins or revolves in

flight, exhibits gyroscopic inertia, tending to maintain a straighter line of

flight than it would if not rotating. Rigidity in space can best be

demonstrated, however, by a model gyroscope consisting of a flywheel supported

in rings in such a way that the axle of the flywheel can assume any angle in

space. When the flywheel is spinning, the model can be moved about, tipped, or

turned at the will of the demonstrator, but the flywheel will maintain its

original plane of rotation as long as it continues to spin with sufficient

velocity to overcome the friction with its supporting bearings. Gyroscopes

constitute an important part of automatic-navigation or inertial-guidance

systems in aircraft, spacecraft, guided missiles, rockets, and ships and

submarines. In these systems, inertial-guidance instruments comprise gyroscopes

and accelerometers that continuously calculate exact speed and direction of the

craft in motion. These signals are fed into a computer, which records and

compensates for course aberrations. The most advanced research craft and

missiles also obtain guidance from so-called laser gyros, which are not really

inertial devices but instead measure changes in counterrotating beams of laser

light caused by changes in craft direction. Another advanced system, called the

electrically suspended gyro, uses a hollow beryllium sphere suspended in a

magnetic cradle; fiber-optic systems are also being developed.