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Waterbed
A waterbed, water mattress, or flotation mattress is a bed or mattress filled with water. Waterbeds intended for medical therapies appear in various reports through the 19th century. The modern version, invented in San Francisco and patented in 1971, became a popular consumer item in the United States through the 1980s with up to 20% of the market in 1986 and 22% in 1987. By 2013, they accounted for less than 5% of new bed sales. Construction Waterbeds primarily consist of two types, hard-sided beds and soft-sided beds. A hard-sided waterbed consists of a water-containing mattress inside a rectangular frame of wood resting on a plywood deck that sits on a platform. A soft-sided waterbed consists of a water-containing mattress inside of a rectangular frame of sturdy foam, zippered inside a fabric casing, which sits on a platform. It looks like a conventional bed and is designed to fit existing bedroom furniture. The platform usually looks like a conventional foundation or box ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mattress
A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person Lying (position), lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a Quilting, quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, containing materials such as hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, or a framework of metal springs. Mattresses may also be filled with air or water. Mattresses are usually placed on top of a bed base which may be solid, as in the case of a platform bed, or Elasticity (physics), elastic, such as an upholstered wood and wire box spring or a slatted foundation. Popular in Europe, a Divan (furniture), divan incorporates both mattress and foundation in a single upholstered, footed unit. Divans have at least one innerspring layer as well as cushioning materials. They may be supplied with a secondary mattress or a removable "topper". Mattresses may also be filled with air or water, or a variety of na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Arnott
Neil Arnott (15 May 1788 – March 1874) was a Scottish physician and inventor. He was the inventor of one of the first forms of the waterbed, the Arnott waterbed, and was awarded the Rumford Medal in 1852 for the construction of the smokeless fire grate, as well as other improvements to ventilation and heating. Life He was born in Arbroath, the son of Alexander Arnott and his wife, Ann MacLean of Borreray. He came from a line of master bakers. Neil Arnott was a distinguished graduate of Marischal College, University of Aberdeen (AM, 1805; MD 1814) and subsequently studied in London under Sir Everard Home (1756–1832), through whom he obtained, when only eighteen, the appointment of full surgeon to an East Indiaman. After making two voyages to China acting as a surgeon in the service of the British East India Company (1807-9 and 1810–11), he settled in London where he practised from 1811 to 1854, and quickly acquired a high reputation. He gave lectures at the Philomath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bed (furniture)
A bed is a piece of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds include a box spring inner-sprung base, which is a large mattress-sized box containing wood and springs that provide additional support and suspension for the mattress. Beds are available in many sizes, ranging from infant-sized bassinets and cribs, to small beds for a single person or adult, to large queen and king-size beds designed for two people. While most beds are single mattresses on a fixed frame, there are other varieties, such as the murphy bed, which folds into a wall, the sofa bed, which folds out of a sofa, the trundle bed, which is stored under a low, twin-sized bed and can be rolled out to create a larger sleeping area, and the bunk bed, which provides two mattresses on two tiers as well as a ladder to access the upper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stranger In A Strange Land
''Stranger in a Strange Land'' is a 1961 science fiction novel by the American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians, and explores his interaction with and eventual transformation of Terran culture. The title "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a direct quotation from the King James Bible (taken from Exodus 2:22). The working title for the book was "A Martian Named Smith", which was also the name of the screenplay started by a character at the end of the novel. Heinlein's widow Virginia arranged to have the original unedited manuscript published in 1991, three years after Heinlein's death. Critics disagree about which version is superior. ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' won the 1962 Hugo Award for Best Novel and became the first science fiction novel to enter ''The New York Times Book Review''s best-seller list. In 2012, the Library of Cong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is part of the California State University system. It offers 126 bachelor's degree programs, 106 master's degree programs, and 3 doctoral degree programs, along with 23 teaching credential programs among seven colleges. The 144.1-acre main campus is located in the southwest part of the city, less than two miles from the West Coast of the United States, Pacific coast. The university has 12 Varsity team, varsity athletic teams which compete at the NCAA Division II level. SF State is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity." It is also a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Minority-serving institution, Asian American Native American Pacific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expanded Universe (Heinlein)
''Expanded Universe, The New Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein'' is a 1980 collection of science fiction stories and essays by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, with a foreword for each. The trade paperback 1981 edition lists the subtitle under other Heinlein books as ''More Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein'' because the contents subsume the 1966 Ace Books collection, '' The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein''. The current volume is dedicated to William Targ. Contents Volume 1 * " Life-Line" (*) * "Successful Operation" * " Blowups Happen" (*) * " Solution Unsatisfactory" (*) * "The Last Days of the United States" * "How to Be a Survivor" * "Pie from the Sky" * "They Do It with Mirrors" * "Free Men" (*) * "No Bands Playing, No Flags Flying" * " A Bathroom of Her Own" * "On the Slopes of Vesuvius" Volume 2 * " Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon" * "Pandora's Box" (*) *Where To? (1950, 1965, 1980) * "Cliff and the Calories" * "Ray Guns and Rocket Ships" * "The Third Millennium Opens" * " Who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Star
In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a binary system of stars in mutual orbit, gravitationally bound to each other) or is an ''optical double'', a chance line-of-sight alignment of two stars at different distances from the observer. Binary stars are important to stellar astronomers as knowledge of their motions allows direct calculation of stellar mass and other stellar parameters. The only (possible) case of "binary star" whose two components are separately visible to the naked eye is the case of Mizar and Alcor (though actually a multiple-star system), but it is not known for certain whether Mizar and Alcor are gravitationally bound. Since the beginning of the 1780s, both professional and amateur double star observers have telescopically measured the distances and angles be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beyond This Horizon
''Beyond This Horizon'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It was originally published as a two-part serial in ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (April, May 1942, under the pseudonym Anson MacDonald) and then as a single volume by Fantasy Press in 1948. It was awarded a Retro-Hugo award for best novel in 2018. Overview The novel depicts a world in which genetic selection for increased health, longevity, and intelligence has become so widespread that the unmodified " control naturals" are a carefully managed and protected minority. Duels and the carrying of arms are socially accepted ways of maintaining civility in public. A man can wear distinctive clothing to show his unwillingness to duel, but this results in an inferior social status. The world has become an economic utopia; the "economic dividend" is so high that work has become optional. The chief economic problem uses up the economic surplus: many high-quality goods actually cost ''less'' than t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert A
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown, godlike" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.Reaney & Wilson, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames''. Oxford University Press. It is also in use Robert (surname), as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert (name), Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe, the name entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta (given name), Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto (given name), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sleeper Awakes
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." Twain's novels include ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and its sequel, ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." He also wrote ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' (1889) and ''Pudd'nhead Wilson'' (1894) and cowrote ''The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today'' (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner. The novelist Ernest Hemingway claimed that "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ''Huckleberry Finn''." Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for both ''Tom Sawyer'' and ''Huckleberry Finn''. He served an apprenticeship with a printer early in his career, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
