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complexity

(Encyclopedia)complexity, in science, field of study devoted to the process of self-organization. The basic concept of complexity is that all things tend to organize themselves into patterns, e.g., ant colonies, im...

Karbala

(Encyclopedia)Karbala kärˈbələ [key], city (1987 pop. 296,705), central Iraq, at the edge of the Syrian Desert. The city's trade is in religious objects, hides, wool, and dates. Karbala is the site of the tomb ...

Hitchcock, Lambert

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Lambert, 1795–1852, American chairmaker, b. Cheshire, Conn. In 1818 in Barkhamsted, Conn., Hitchcock established a factory whose employees came to number about 100. The village that the f...

de la Mare, Walter

(Encyclopedia)de la Mare, Walter də lə mâr [key], 1873–1956, English poet and novelist. For many years he worked in the accounting department of the Anglo-American Oil Company. Much of his verse and prose show...

Pittsburg

(Encyclopedia)Pittsburg pĭtsˈbərg [key]. 1 Industrial city (1990 pop. 47,564), Contra Costa co., W Calif., on the edge of the San Francisco Bay area, at the junction of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers;...

tomahawk

(Encyclopedia)tomahawk [from an Algonquian dialect of Virginia], hatchet generally used by Native North Americans as a hand weapon and as a missile. The earliest tomahawks were made of stone, with one edge or two e...

net

(Encyclopedia)net, mesh fabric, known from prehistoric times. Nets have been made of many materials, including sinews, strips of hide, silk, vegetable and synthetic fibers, and metallic threads. Their earliest use ...

Freiburg im Breisgau

(Encyclopedia)Freiburg im Breisgau frīˈbo͝ork ĭm brīsˈgou [key], city, Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany, near the Rhine River ...

Great Bear Lake

(Encyclopedia)Great Bear Lake, largest lake of Canada and fourth largest of North America, c.12,275 sq mi (31,800 sq km), c.190 mi (310 km) long and from 25 to 110 mi (40–177 km) wide, Northwest Territories, on t...

Getz, Stan

(Encyclopedia)Getz, Stan, 1927–91, American jazz tenor saxophonist, b. Philadelphia, as Stanley Gayetsky. As a mature musician he was especially known for his “cool” jazz style. He began playing as a teenager...