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The manufacture of clocks and watches in Canada may have begun as early as 1700; however, practising watch and clockmakers through the 18th and much of the 19th centuries did not make the movements.

The Iron Ring is a symbol of professional duty and obligation worn by Canadian engineers. The tradition began in 1922 when a group of Montréal engineers met to consider the solidarity of, and a means for providing guidance to, their profession.

The Royal Canadian Institute is now the oldest surviving scientific society in Canada. It was founded in 1849 by a small group of civil engineers, architects and surveyors led by Sir Sandford FLEMING.

Although the Scandinavians claim to have pioneered the RO-RO concept, the first purpose-built RO-RO ferry was the Motor Princess, launched at Esquimalt, BC, in 1923 for Canadian Pacific. It ended its long career with British Columbia Ferry Corporation in the 1970s as the Pender Queen.

The CF-100 Canuck, manufactured by A.V. Roe Canada (Avro), was the first jet fighter designed and built entirely in Canada. It flew in front-line air defence from 1953 until the early 1960s.

Antimony (Sb) is a silvery-white, lustrous, crystalline solid. Uncharacteristically for metals, it is brittle and conducts heat and electricity poorly. Antimony melts at 630°C and boils at 1380°C. The mineral stibnite is the most important source of antimony.

Control was the problem, and the men who showed the way to the practical helicopter were Juan de la Cierva of Spain, with his autogyros, Heinrich Rocke of Germany and Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky of Russia and the US.

There are approximately 120 000 grain-producing farms in Canada. Yearly production varies substantially, depending on climatic conditions. Grain production has doubled since the 1950s, with wheat making up a large percentage of production. In 1997-98, total Canadian wheat exports were 15.

The principal use for gypsum is wallboard. Crude gypsum is pulverized and heated to form stucco, which is mixed with water and aggregate (sand, vermiculite or expanded perlite) and applied over wood, metal or gypsum lath to form interior wall finishes.

Laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), device used to generate high-intensity light.

Characteristics A typical satellite consists of a number of repeaters (transponders), each of which provides a large-capacity communication channel. Each transponder has a receiver tuned to a frequency range that has been allocated for uplink communication signals from Earth to the satellite.

In Canada the Gregorian calendar is in use under the terms of the 1750 British Act for Regulating the Commencement of the Year, and for Correcting the Calendar Now in Use, which switched the official English calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian form in 1752.

Drainage problems are caused by an excess of water at the SOIL surface or in the root zone.

Conservation can be defined as the planned and efficient use of natural RESOURCES for industrial and nonconsumptive purposes (eg, recreation, research) so as to ensure their permanence, productivity and diversity.

Crop research may be defined as activity directed to making the production, marketing and use of commercial crops more efficient and profitable.

Dentistry is the art of the treatment of teeth and their supporting tissues. The Egyptians, in their papyri dating back to 3500 BC, described dental and gingival ("of the gums") maladies and their management, and evidence of teeth restoration has been found in Egyptian mummies.

Science is the rational study of nature, rose to prominence in European civilization at almost the same time as the first European exploration of what is now Canada and was, from the beginning, an element in those explorations.

See ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY.

From descriptive beginnings as the geography of the sea, oceanography has matured into a quantitative and multidisciplinary science bringing together experts from many basic fields.

Lemming, stocky northern rodent related to voles. About 16 species occur worldwide; best known of the 7 Canadian species are brown and collared lemmings.