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John, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John, Saint, one of the Twelve Apostles, traditional author of the fourth Gospel, three letters, and the Book of Revelation (see John, Gospel according to Saint; John, letters; Revelation); it is high...

Kawasaki disease

(Encyclopedia)Kawasaki disease or Kawasaki syndrome, acute illness characterized by inflammation of the blood vessels that primarily affects young children; it is more common in boys and children of Asian descent. ...

Silone, Ignazio

(Encyclopedia)Silone, Ignazio ēnyäˈtsyō sēlōˈnā [key], 1900–1978, Italian novelist and journalist, whose original name was Secondo Tranquilli. A Socialist and for a time a Communist, he broke with Stalin ...

calypso, in music

(Encyclopedia)calypso, a form of folk song developed on the island of Trinidad and also popular in other Caribbean countries. Thought to have begun with 19th-century black slaves, calypso songs developed and contin...

phenol

(Encyclopedia)phenol fēˈnōl [key], C6H5OH, a colorless, crystalline solid that melts at about 41℃, boils at 182℃, and is soluble in ethanol and ether and somewhat soluble in water. An aromatic alcohol, it ex...

causality

(Encyclopedia)causality, in philosophy, the relationship between cause and effect. A distinction is often made between a cause that produces something new (e.g., a moth from a caterpillar) and one that produces a c...

Rousseau, Jean Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Rousseau, Jean Jacques ro͞osōˈ [key], 1712–78, Swiss-French philosopher, author, political theorist, and composer. Rousseau's influence on posterity has been equaled by only a few, and it is...

muscle

(Encyclopedia)muscle, the contractile tissue that effects the movement of and within the body. Muscle tissue in the higher animals is classified as striated, smooth, or cardiac, according to its structure and funct...

pantheism

(Encyclopedia)pantheism pănˈthēĭzəm [key] [Gr. pan=all, theos=God], name used to denote any system of belief or speculation that includes the teaching “God is all, and all is God.” Pantheism, in other word...

nihilism

(Encyclopedia)nihilism nīˈəlĭzəm [key], theory of revolution popular among Russian extremists until the fall of the czarist government (1917); the theory was given its name by Ivan Turgenev in his novel Father...