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Dumas, Jean Baptiste André

(Encyclopedia)Dumas, Jean Baptiste André dümäˈ [key], 1800–1884, French organic chemist. He was distinguished for his researches on atomic weights, esters, vapor densities, the oxidation products of alcohols...

Bragg, Sir William Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Bragg, Sir William Lawrence, 1890–1971, English physicist, b. Adelaide, Australia, educated in Australia and at Trinity College, Cambridge; son of W. H. Bragg. He was professor of physics at Victori...

Adams, John, American composer

(Encyclopedia)Adams, John (John Coolidge Adams), 1947–, American composer, b. Worcester, Mass. A clarinetist, he studied composition at Harvard (B.A. 1969, M.A. 1971). Often regarded as the most outstanding, tech...

oil industry

(Encyclopedia)oil industry, the business of discovering oil (petroleum), extracting it from the ground, refining it into a variety of products, and distributing it to the public. The development of the oil industry...

radio astronomy

(Encyclopedia)radio astronomy, study of celestial bodies by means of the electromagnetic radio frequency waves they emit and absorb naturally. Radio waves also come from outside the Milky Way. These extragalact...

Mechichi, Hichem

(Encyclopedia)Mechichi, Hichem, 1974–, Tunisian political leader. A lawyer by training, he served on the National Commission to Investigate Embezzlement and Corruption and with the National Anti-Corruption Author...

Thurston, Lorrin Andrews

(Encyclopedia)Thurston, Lorrin Andrews, 1858–1931, lawyer and newspaper publisher. He was the son of missionaries in Hawaii. Favoring U.S. annexation of Hawaii, he was one of the leaders of the revolution (1893) ...

Schoelcher, Victor

(Encyclopedia)Schoelcher, Victor vēktôrˈ shölshĕrˈ [key], 1804–93, French humanitarian and statesman. Long involved in the abolition movement, he presided (1848) over a commission that secured the abolition...

Dawes, Henry Laurens

(Encyclopedia)Dawes, Henry Laurens, 1816–1903, U.S. Senator (1875–93), b. Cummington, Mass. He was U.S. district attorney for W Massachusetts (1853–57) and a Republican member of the House of Representatives ...

Palgrave, Sir Robert Harry Inglis

(Encyclopedia)Palgrave, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, 1827–1919, English banker and economist; son of Sir Francis Palgrave. He edited (1877–83) the Economist, wrote several books on economics, and served (1885) on t...