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Vavilov, Nikolai Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Vavilov, Nikolai Ivanovich nyĭkəlīˈ ēväˈnəvĭch vəvēˈləf [key], 1887–1943?, Russian botanist and geneticist. He is reported to have died in a Soviet concentration camp after losing polit...

Toynbee, Arnold Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Toynbee, Arnold Joseph, 1889–1975, English historian; nephew of Arnold Toynbee. Educated at Oxford, he served in the British foreign office during World Wars I and II and was a delegate (1919) to th...

Shiva

(Encyclopedia)Shiva or Siva shēˈvə [key], one of the greatest gods of Hinduism, also called Mahadeva. The “horned god” and phallic worship of the Indus valley civilization may have been a prototype of Shiva ...

SETI

(Encyclopedia)SETI sĕtˈē [key] [Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence], name given to a series of independent programs to detect radio signals from civilizations beyond the solar system. Modern SETI efforts c...

Dyak

(Encyclopedia)Dyak or Dayak both: dīˈăk [key], name applied to one of the groups of indigenous peoples of the island of Borneo, numbering about 2 million. The Dyaks have maintained their customs and mode of life...

de Bary, Wm. Theodore

(Encyclopedia)de Bary, Wm. Theodore băˈrē [key], 1919–2017, American scholar of Asian cultures, b. Bronx, N.Y., as William Theodore De Bary (he formally changed to Wm. to distinguish himself from his like-name...

Chavín de Huántar

(Encyclopedia)Chavín de Huántar chävēnˈ dā wänˈtär [key], archaeological site in the northeastern highlands of Peru, near the headwaters of the Marañon River. It flourished between c.900 b.c. and 200 b.c....

Leopold II, king of the Belgians

(Encyclopedia)Leopold II, 1835–1909, king of the Belgians (1865–1909), son and successor of Leopold I. His reign saw great industrial and colonial expansion. In 1876 he organized, with the help of H. M. Stanley...

Kurosawa, Akira

(Encyclopedia)Kurosawa, Akira äkēˈrä ko͞orōˈsäwä [key], 1910–98, Japanese film director, scriptwriter, and producer, b. Tokyo. He is regarded as one of the world's greatest directors. In Rashomon (1950),...

stonework

(Encyclopedia)stonework, term applied to various types of work—that of the lapidary who shapes, cuts, and polishes gemstones or engraves them for seals and ornaments; of the jeweler or artisan who mounts or encru...