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Mishima, Yukio

(Encyclopedia)Mishima, Yukio yo͞oˈkēō mĭshˈēmä [key], 1925–70, Japanese author, b. Tokyo. His original name was Kimitake Hiraoka and he was born into a samurai family. Mishima wrote novels, short stories,...

Athena

(Encyclopedia)Athena pălˈəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian deities. According to myth, after Zeus seduced Metis he learned that any son she bore would overthrow him, s...

Dionysus

(Encyclopedia)Dionysus dīənīˈsəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, god of fertility and wine. Legends concerning him are profuse and contradictory. However, he was one of the most important gods of the G...

homeopathy

(Encyclopedia)homeopathy hōmēŏpˈəthē [key], system of medicine whose fundamental principle is the law of similars—that like is cured by like. It was first given practical application by Samuel Hahnemann of ...

Ignarro, Louis Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Ignarro, Louis Joseph, 1941–. American pharmacologist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Ph.D. Univ. of Minnesota, 1966. He was on the faculty at Tulane Univ. from 1979 to 1985, when he became a professor at the U...

physical fitness

(Encyclopedia)physical fitness, combined good health and physical development. The object of any program of physical fitness is to maximize an individual's health, strength, endurance, and skill relative to age, se...

Banks, Dennis James

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Dennis James, 1937–2017, Native American civil-rights activist, b. Leech Lake Reservation, Minn. Of Ojibwa (Chippewa) heritage, he helped found the American Indian Movement (1968) to fight fo...

Samper Pizano, Ernesto

(Encyclopedia)Samper Pizano, Ernesto ĕrnĕsˈtō sämpĕrˈ pēzäˈnō [key], 1950–, Colombian politician, president of Colombia (1994–98), b. Bogotá. An economist, lawyer, former professor, and member of th...

tranquilizer

(Encyclopedia)tranquilizer, drug whose action calms the central nervous system, decreasing emotional agitation without impairing alertness. Tranquilizing drugs differ from hypnotic drugs such as barbiturates in tha...

Sinaloa

(Encyclopedia)Sinaloa sēnälōˈä [key], state (1990 pop. 2,204,054), 22,582 sq mi (58,487 sq km), W Mexico, on the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean. Culiacán is the capital. A long, narrow territory lyi...