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Roberts, Richard John

(Encyclopedia)Roberts, Richard John, 1943–, British biochemist, Ph.D., Univ. of Sheffield, 1968. Roberts joined James D. Watson's Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York in 1972, becoming assistant director for...

loon

(Encyclopedia)loon, common name for migratory aquatic birds found in fresh- and saltwater in the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Its strange, laughing call carries for great distances. Like the grebes, loo...

onomatopoeia

(Encyclopedia)onomatopoeia ŏnˌəmătˌəpēˈə [key] [Gr.,=word-making], in language, the representation of a sound by an imitation thereof; e.g., the cat mews. Poets often convey the meaning of a verse through ...

Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria

(Encyclopedia)Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria zhwäkēmˈ mərēˈə məshäˈdo͝o dĭ əsēzˈ [key], 1839–1908, Brazilian novelist, b. Rio de Janeiro. The grandson of African slaves, he was educated by a pries...

Tasman, Abel Janszoon

(Encyclopedia)Tasman, Abel Janszoon äˈbəl yänˈsōn täˈsmän [key], 1603?–1659, Dutch navigator. In the service of the Dutch East India Company from c.1632 to 1653, he made several trading and exploring voy...

brome grass

(Encyclopedia)brome grass, common name for any plant of the genus Bromus, chiefly large, coarse grasses of a weedy nature; some, however, are useful as forage, and others are cultivated for decoration. Some of the ...

Loyalists

(Encyclopedia)Loyalists, in the American Revolution, colonials who adhered to the British cause. The patriots referred to them as Tories. Although Loyalists were found in all social classes and occupations, a dispr...

spiritual

(Encyclopedia)spiritual, a religious folk song of American origin, particularly associated with African-American Protestants of the southern United States. The African-American spiritual, characterized by syncopati...

Frank, Barney

(Encyclopedia)Frank, Barney, 1940–, American congressman, b. Bayonne, N.J., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1962; J.D., 1977). A liberal Democrat, he began his political career as chief assistant to Boston Mayor Kevin White...

Antofagasta

(Encyclopedia)Antofagasta äntōfägäˈstä [key], city, capital of Antofagasta region, N Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean. Antofagasta was founded by Chileans in 1870 to exploit nit...