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Halley, Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Halley, Edmond hălˈē, hôˈlē [key], 1656–1742, English astronomer and mathematician. He is particularly noted as the first astronomer to predict the return of a comet and the first to point out...

polyhedron

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Polyhedrons polyhedron pŏlˌēhēˈdrən [key], closed solid bounded by plane faces; each face of a polyhedron is a polygon. A cube is a polyhedron bounded by six polygons (in this case squar...

Noether, Emmy

(Encyclopedia)Noether, Emmy (Amalie Emmy Noether) ämälˈyə ĕmˈē nöˈtər [key], 1882–1935, German mathematician, b. Erlangen, Germany, grad. Univ. of Erlangen (Ph.D. 1908). She made important contributions...

Ismene

(Encyclopedia)Ismene ĭsmēˈnē [key], in Greek legend, daughter of Oedipus and sister of Antigone. ...

Dionysius Thrax

(Encyclopedia)Dionysius Thrax [Lat.,=the Thracian], c.170–c.90 b.c., Greek grammarian of Alexandria. His Art of Grammar remained a standard work for centuries and was a model for subsequent grammars. ...

Linear Scripts

(Encyclopedia)Linear Scripts, forms of Minoan writing. The earliest Minoan writing consisted of pictographs, called Cretan hieroglyphs, which date from about 2000 b.c. The first linear script, Linear A, dates from ...

Lucania

(Encyclopedia)Lucania lo͞okāˈnēə [key], ancient region of S Italy. It was bounded on the east by the Gulf of Tarentum (now Taranto) and by Apulia, on the north by Samnium and Campania, on the west by the Tyrrh...

Mamun, al-

(Encyclopedia)Mamun, al- (Abu al-Abbas Abd Allah al-Mamun) mämo͞onˈ [key], 786–833, 7th Abbasid caliph (813–33); son of Harun ar-Rashid. He succeeded his brother al-Amin after a bitter civil war, but was una...

Napier, Sir Charles James

(Encyclopedia)Napier, Sir Charles James nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1782–1853, British general; brother of Sir William Napier. He served with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars. Stationed (1822–30) on the Greek...

cryptogam

(Encyclopedia)cryptogam, in botany, term used to denote a plant that produces spores, as in algae, fungi, mosses, and ferns, but not seeds. The term cryptogam, from the Greek kryptos, meaning “hidden,” and gamo...