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dynamite

(Encyclopedia)dynamite, explosive made from nitroglycerin and an inert, porous filler such as wood pulp, sawdust, kieselguhr, or some other absorbent material. The proportions vary in different kinds of dynamite; o...

Nobel, Alfred Bernhard

(Encyclopedia)Nobel, Alfred Bernhard älˈfrĕd bĕrnˈhärd nōbĕlˈ [key], 1833–96, Swedish chemist and inventor. Educated in St. Petersburg, Russia, he traveled as a youth and returned to St. Petersburg in 18...

Linares

(Encyclopedia)Linares lēnäˈrās [key], city (1990 pop. 59,150), Jaén prov., S Spain, in Andalusia. The rich silver and lead mines nearby have brought prosperity to the city, which now has many metallurgical ind...

nitroglycerin

(Encyclopedia)nitroglycerin nīˌtrōglĭsˈərĭn [key], C3H5N3O9, colorless, oily, highly explosive liquid. It is the nitric acid triester of glycerol and is more correctly called glycerol trinitrate. It is insol...

blasting

(Encyclopedia)blasting, shattering, breaking, or splitting of rock or other material by the discharge of an explosive placed within or in contact with it. It is a necessary part of many engineering operations. An a...

glycerol

(Encyclopedia)glycerol, glycerin, glycerine, or 1,2,3-propanetriol prōˈpāntrīˌŏl [key], CH2OHCHOHCH2OH, colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, syrupy liquid. Glycerol is a trihydric alcohol. It melts at 17.8...

explosive

(Encyclopedia)explosive, substance that undergoes decomposition or combustion with great rapidity, evolving much heat and producing a large volume of gas. The reaction products fill a much greater volume than that ...

Bullins, Ed

(Encyclopedia)Bullins, Ed, 1935-2021, American playwright, b. Philadelphia, Pa., as Edward Artie Bullins, Antioch Univ. of San Fransico (B.A., 1989), San Francisco S...

diatom

(Encyclopedia)diatom dīˈətŏmˌ, –tōmˌ [key], unicellular organism of the kingdom Protista, characterized by a silica shell of often intricate and beautiful sculpturing. Most diatoms exist singly, although s...

coral reefs

(Encyclopedia)coral reefs, limestone formations produced by living organisms, found in shallow, tropical marine waters. In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an...

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