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Brenner, Sydney

(Encyclopedia)Brenner, Sydney, 1927–2019, British molecular biologist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1954. He was director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England (1979–86), and director of the MRC Mol...

biochemistry

(Encyclopedia)biochemistry, science concerned chiefly with the chemistry of biological processes; it attempts to utilize the tools and concepts of chemistry, particularly organic and physical chemistry, for elucida...

gold

(Encyclopedia)gold, metallic chemical element; symbol Au [Lat. aurum=shining dawn]; at. no. 79; at. wt. 196.96657; m.p. 1,064.43℃; b.p. 2,808℃; sp. gr. 19.32 at 20℃; valence +1 or +3. Gold is very ductile and...

salt, chemical compound

(Encyclopedia)salt, chemical compound (other than water) formed by a chemical reaction between an acid and a base (see acids and bases). Salts are also prepared by methods other than neutralization. A metal can c...

banana

(Encyclopedia)banana, name for several species of the genus Musa and for the fruits these produce. The banana plant—one of the largest herbaceous plants—is native to tropical Asia but now cultivated throughout ...

Robinson, Jackie

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Jackie (Jack Roosevelt Robinson), 1919–72, American baseball player, the first African-American player in the modern major leagues, b. Cairo, Ga. He grew up in Pasadena, Calif., where he b...

sea cucumber

(Encyclopedia)sea cucumber, any of the flexible, elongated echinoderms belonging to the class Holothuroidea. Although sea cucumbers have the basic echinoderm radial symmetry (see Echinodermata), they do not have ar...

Anchorage

(Encyclopedia)Anchorage ăngˈkərĭj [key], city (2020 pop. 291,247), Anchorage census div., S central Alaska, a port at the head of Cook Inlet; inc. 1920. It is the largest city in th...

Juppé, Alain

(Encyclopedia)Juppé, Alain älăNˈ zhüpāˈ [key], 1945–, French politician, b. Les Landes. A member of the Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR), he entered the Inspection des Finances in 1972. A protegé of ...

neodymium

(Encyclopedia)neodymium nēˌōdĭmˈēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Nd; at. no. 60; at. wt. 144.242; m.p. about 1,021℃; b.p. about 3,068℃; sp. gr. 7.004 at 20℃; valence +3. Neodymium is a lust...