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Saint-Denis, city, France

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Denis săN-dənēˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 90,806), Seine–Saint-Denis dept., N central France. It is an industrial suburb N of Paris. Metals, chemicals, machinery, electronics, and food produc...

rhenium

(Encyclopedia)rhenium rēˈnēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Re; at. no. 75; at. wt. 186.207; m.p. about 3,180℃; b.p. about 5,625℃; sp. gr. 21.02 at 20℃; valence −1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6, or +7....

Petersburg

(Encyclopedia)Petersburg, city (1990 pop. 38,386), politically independent and in no county, SE Va., on the Appomattox River; inc. 1850. A port of entry and an important tobacco market, it has industries producing ...

differential geometry

(Encyclopedia)differential geometry, branch of geometry in which the concepts of the calculus are applied to curves, surfaces, and other geometric entities. The approach in classical differential geometry involves ...

transfinite number

(Encyclopedia)transfinite number, cardinal or ordinal number designating the magnitude (power) or order of an infinite set; the theory of transfinite numbers was introduced by Georg Cantor in 1874. The cardinal num...

cladistics

(Encyclopedia)cladistics fīˌlōjənĕtˈĭk [key], an approach to the classification of living things in which organisms are defined and grouped by the possession of one or more shared characteristics (called cha...

Heidelberg

(Encyclopedia)Heidelberg hīˈdəlbĕrkh [key], city, Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, picturesquely situated ...

Great Smoky Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Appalachian system, on the N.C.–Tenn. border; highest range E of the Mississippi and one of the oldest uplands on earth. The mountains are named for the smokelike ...

node

(Encyclopedia)node, in astronomy, point at which the orbit of a body crosses a reference plane. One reference plane that is often used is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun (ecliptic). Since the moon's o...

Madison, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Madison. 1 City (1990 pop. 12,006), seat of Jefferson co., SE Ind., on the Ohio River; settled c.1806, inc. 1838. It is a port of entry and a tobacco marketing center. Among its manufactures are trans...

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