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Kristeva, Julia

(Encyclopedia)Kristeva, Julia, 1941–, French critic, psychoanalyst, semiotician, and writer, b. Sliven, Bulgaria. Writing in French, she has explored many subjects including structuralist linguistics and semiotic...

Kindi, al-

(Encyclopedia)Kindi, al- (Abu Yusuf Yakub ibn Ishak al-Kindi) äˈbo͞o yo͞oso͝ofˈ yäko͞obˈ ĭbˈən ēshäkˈ ăl-kĭnˈdē [key], 9th cent. Arab philosopher, b. Basra (now in Iraq). He studied at Basra and ...

Pompadour, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Le Normant d'Étioles, marquise de

(Encyclopedia)Pompadour, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Le Normant d'Étioles, marquise de pŏmˈpədôr, Fr. zhän äNtwänĕtˈ pwäsôNˈ lə nôrmäNˈ dātyôlˈ märkēzˈ də pôNpädo͞orˈ [key], 1721–64, mis...

Bay of Pigs Invasion

(Encyclopedia)Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961, an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles, supported by the U.S. government. On Apr. 17, 1961, an armed force of about 1,500 Cuban exiles landed in the Bahía de Coc...

Turing, Alan Mathison

(Encyclopedia)Turing, Alan Mathison, 1912–54, British mathematician and computer theorist. While studying at Cambridge he began work in predicate logic that led to a proof (1937) that some mathematical problems a...

Shannon, Claude Elwood

(Encyclopedia)Shannon, Claude Elwood, 1916–2001, American applied mathematician, b. Gaylord, Michigan. A student of Vannevar Bush at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was the first to propose th...

Sisi, Abdul Fattah El-

(Encyclopedia)Sisi or Sissi, Abdul Fattah El- äbˈdəl fätˈtä ĕ-sēˈsē [key], 1954–, Egyptian military officer and government official, b. Cairo, grad. Egyptian Military Academy (1977), U.S. Army War Colle...

smart weapon

(Encyclopedia)smart weapon, missile or steerable bomb equipped with a laser, television, or satellite guidance system. Smart weapons, which use guidance systems that rely on external assistance, are distinguished f...

Enewetak

(Encyclopedia)Enewetak, Enewetok, or Eniwetok ĕnĭwēˈtŏk, ĕnēˈwĕtôk [key], circular atoll, central Pacific, one of the Ralik Chain in the Marshall Islands. Enewetak is c.50 mi (80 km) in circumference and...

Semipalatinsk Test Site

(Encyclopedia)Semipalatinsk Test Site, Soviet nuclear testing site, c.6,950 sq mi (18,000 sq km), NE Kazakhstan, near the city of Kurchatov and some 90 mi (150 km) W of Semey (formerly Semipalatinsk). Between 1949 ...