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thunderstorm

(Encyclopedia)thunderstorm, violent, local atmospheric disturbance accompanied by lightning, thunder, and heavy rain, often by strong gusts of wind, and sometimes by hail. The typical thunderstorm caused by convect...

Alonso, Dámaso

(Encyclopedia)Alonso, Dámaso däˈmäsō älōnˈsō [key], 1898–1990, Spanish philologist, lyric poet, and literary critic, b. Madrid. He is known for his literary sensitivity and the precision and rigor of his...

Grahame, Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Grahame, Kenneth grāˈəm [key], 1859–1931, English author. He was a secretary in the Bank of England from 1908 until 1918. His works, noted for their humor and charm, include The Golden Age (1895)...

Carson, Rachel Louise

(Encyclopedia)Carson, Rachel Louise, 1907–64, American writer and marine biologist, b. Springdale, Pa., M.A. Johns Hopkins, 1932. Her well-known books on sea life—Under the Sea-Wind (1941), The Sea around Us (1...

Selznick, David O.

(Encyclopedia)Selznick, David O., 1902–65, American film producer, b. Pittsburgh. He worked for studios in Hollywood before founding Selznick International Pictures in 1936. Selznick's most famous movie is Gone w...

erosion

(Encyclopedia)erosion ĭrōˈzhən [key], general term for the processes by which the surface of the earth is constantly being worn away. The principal agents are gravity, running water, near-shore waves, ice (most...

Saffir-Simpson scale

(Encyclopedia)Saffir-Simpson scale săfˈər– [key], standard scale for rating the severity of hurricanes as a measure of the damage they cause; it is based on observations of numerous North Atlantic Basin hurric...

Douglas, Norman

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Norman (George Norman Douglas), 1868–1952, British novelist and essayist, b. Scotland. He spent the years from 1894 to 1896 in diplomatic service in Russia but resigned from the foreign ser...

Hud

(Encyclopedia)Hud ho͞od [key], a pre-Qur'anic prophet of Islam. Hud unsuccessfully exhorted his South Arabian people, the Ad, to worship the One God. The Qur'an mentions that their incredulity was punished by a de...

Marston, John Westland

(Encyclopedia)Marston, John Westland, 1819–90, English playwright and critic. Although his poetic dramas, including The Patrician's Daughter (1842) and The Favourite of Fortune (1866), were popular, he is more no...