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Jabir

(Encyclopedia)Jabir jēˈbər [key], fl. 8th cent., Arab alchemist and physician, originally named Jabir ibn Hayyan. He is believed to have lived at Kufa and at Baghdad. A great number of works on alchemy, many of ...

Brest, city, Belarus

(Encyclopedia)Brest –lĭtôfskˈ [key], Pol. Brześć nad Bugiem, city, capital of Brest region, W Belaru...

pitchblende

(Encyclopedia)pitchblende pĭchˈblĕndˌ [key], dark, lustrous, heavy mineral, a source of radium and uranium. Largely natural uranium oxides, triuranium octaoxide (U3O8) and uranium dioxide (UO2), it usually cont...

Castle, Wendell

(Encyclopedia)Castle, Wendell, 1932–2018, American furniture designer, b. Emporia, Kans., grad. Univ. of Kansas (B.F.A. 1958, M.F.A. 1961). Trained as an industrial designer and sculptor, he became the preeminent...

mercantilism

(Encyclopedia)mercantilism mûrˈkəntĭlĭzəm [key], economic system of the major trading nations during the 16th, 17th, and 18th cent., based on the premise that national wealth and power were best served by inc...

silicon

(Encyclopedia)silicon, nonmetallic chemical element; symbol Si; at. no. 14; interval in which at. wt. ranges 28.084–28.086; m.p. 1,410℃; b.p. 2,355℃; sp. gr. 2.33 at 25℃; valence usually +4. Silicon is the ...

thermite

(Encyclopedia)thermite [from Thermit, a trade name], mixture of powdered or granular aluminum metal and powdered iron oxide. When ignited it gives off large amounts of heat. In wartime it has been used in incendiar...

rheology

(Encyclopedia)rheology rēŏlˈəjē [key], branch of physics dealing with the deformation and flow of matter. It is particularly concerned with the properties of matter that determine its behavior when a mechanica...

fiat money

(Encyclopedia)fiat money fīˈət, fīˈăt [key], inconvertible money that is made legal tender by the decree, or fiat, of the government but that is not covered by a specie reserve. It is commonly understood to b...

Gresham, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Gresham, Sir Thomas grĕshˈəm [key], 1519?–1579, English merchant and financier. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp after 1551 he proved himself very able, though his methods were frequently ...