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Davis, Charles Henry

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Charles Henry, 1807–77, American naval officer and scientist, b. Boston. Appointed a midshipman in 1823, Davis directed operations of the Coast Survey for a time along the New England coast. ...

infrared astronomy

(Encyclopedia)infrared astronomy, study of celestial objects by means of the infrared radiation they emit, in the wavelength range from about 1 micrometer to about 1 millimeter. All objects, from trees and building...

Rivette, Jacques Pierre Louis

(Encyclopedia)Rivette, Jacques Pierre Louis, 1928–2016, French filmmaker and critic b. Rouen. One of the French New Wave directors of the 1950s and 60s, he wrote criticism for the influential journal Cahiers du C...

Nîmes

(Encyclopedia)Nîmes nēm [key], city (1990 pop. 133,607), capital of Gard dept., S France, in Cévennes. An important market town and rail hub, its products include machinery, textiles and clothing, and tinware. A...

Borlaug, Norman Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Borlaug, Norman Ernest bôrˈlôg [key], 1914–2009, U.S. agronomist, b. near Saude, Iowa, grad. Univ. of Minn. (Ph.D., 1942). He worked as researcher with the E. I. du Pont Company until 1944, when ...

Wilmington

(Encyclopedia)Wilmington. 1 City (1990 pop. 71,529), seat of New Castle co., NE Del., on the Delaware River and tributary streams, the Christina and the Brandywine; settled 1638, inc. as a city 1832. The state's la...

chemical industry

(Encyclopedia)chemical industry, the business of using chemical reactions to turn raw materials, such as coal, oil, and salt, into a variety of products. During the 19th and 20th cent. technological advances in the...

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Lafayette, or La Fayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, marquis de märēˈ zhôzĕfˈ pôl ēv rôk zhēlbĕrˈ dü môtyāˈ märkēˈ də läfāĕtˈ [key], 1757–1834, French gen...