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flat foot

(Encyclopedia)flat foot, condition of the human foot in which the entire sole rests on the ground when the person is standing. When the foot muscles are weakened or the ligaments are strained and stretched, the arc...

Jones, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Jim, 1931–78, American religious leader, b. Lynn, Indiana. An influential Indianapolis preacher from the 1950s and onetime head of the city's Human Rights Commission, Jones formed the raciall...

Kadhimi, Mustafa al-

(Encyclopedia)Kadhimi, Mustafa al-, 1967–, Iraqi journalist, human-rights activist, government official, and political leader, b. as Mustafa Abdul-Latif Mishatat. A Shia Muslim, he opposed President Saddam Hussei...

Mumford, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Mumford, Lewis, 1895–1990, American social philosopher, b. Flushing, N.Y.; educ. City College of New York, Columbia, New York Univ., and the New School for Social Research. A critic of the dehumaniz...

Molina, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Molina, Luis lwēs mōlēˈnä [key], 1535–1600, Spanish Jesuit theologian. He taught at Coimbra and Évora. In 1589 he published Concordia, a work in which he expounded the doctrine known as Molini...

Nathans, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Nathans, Daniel, 1928–99, American microbiologist, b. Wilmington, Del., M.D. Washington Univ., St. Louis, 1954. He became a professor at Johns Hopkins in 1962. Nathans worked with Werner Arber and H...

avalanche

(Encyclopedia)avalanche, rapidly descending large mass of snow, ice, soil, rock, or mixtures of these materials, sliding or falling in response to the force of gravity. Avalanches, which are natural forms of erosio...

avatara

(Encyclopedia)avatara ăvˌətârə [key] [Skt.,=descent], incarnations of Hindu gods, especially Vishnu. The doctrine of avatara first occurs in the Bhagavad-Gita, where Krishna declares: “For the preservation o...

net

(Encyclopedia)net, mesh fabric, known from prehistoric times. Nets have been made of many materials, including sinews, strips of hide, silk, vegetable and synthetic fibers, and metallic threads. Their earliest use ...

Murray, Joseph Edward

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Joseph Edward, 1919–2012, American surgeon, b. Milford, Mass., M.D. Harvard, 1943. Trained as a plastic surgeon, Murray became interested in organ transplants, performing the first human kid...