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Keeling, Charles David

(Encyclopedia)Keeling, Charles David, 1928–2005, U.S. geochemist, b. Scranton, Pa., Ph.D. Northwestern Univ., 1954. As a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (1953–56), he developed a s...

comet

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Comet: Whatever the direction of a comet's flight, its “tail” always points away from the sun. The tail disappears when the comet is far from the sun. comet [Gr.,=longhaired], a small cele...

Dewar, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Dewar, Sir James dyo͞oˈər [key], 1842–1923, British chemist and physicist, b. Scotland. He was professor of chemistry (from 1877) at the Royal Institution, London, and later was director of the D...

oxide

(Encyclopedia)oxide, chemical compound containing oxygen and one other chemical element. Oxides are widely and abundantly distributed in nature. Water is the oxide of hydrogen. Silicon dioxide is the major componen...

Ramanujan, Srinivasa

(Encyclopedia)Ramanujan, Srinivasa shrēˌnĭväˈsə rämäˈno͝ojən [key], 1889–1920, Indian mathematician. He was a self-taught genius in pure mathematics who made original contributions to function theory, ...

laryngitis

(Encyclopedia)laryngitis, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the voice box, or larynx, usually accompanied by hoarseness, sore throat, and coughing. Acute laryngitis is often a secondary bacterial infection tri...

Sloane, T(homas) O'Conor

(Encyclopedia)Sloane, T(homas) O'Conor, 1851–1940, American scientist, lecturer, writer, and periodical editor, Ph.D. Columbia, 1876. Sloane was a member of the editorial staff of the Scientific American, where h...

liquefied petroleum gas

(Encyclopedia)liquefied petroleum gas or LPG, mixture of gases, chiefly propane and butane, produced commercially from petroleum and stored under pressure to keep it in a liquid state. The boiling point of liquefie...

Kivu, lake, Congo and Rwanda

(Encyclopedia)Kivu, lake, 1,042 sq mi (2,699 sq km), 55 mi (89 km) long, on the Congo-Rwanda border, E central Africa; highest lake in Africa (4,788 ft/1,459 m). It is drained by the Ruzizi River, which flows S int...

Salina

(Encyclopedia)Salina səlīˈnə [key], city (1990 pop. 42,303), seat of Saline co., central Kans., on the Smoky Hill River; founded 1858 by settlers opposed to slavery, inc. 1870. It is the marketing and shipping ...