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poliomyelitis

(Encyclopedia)poliomyelitis pōˌlēōmīˌəlīˈtĭs [key], polio, or infantile paralysis, acute viral infection, mainly of children but also affecting older persons. Historically, there were three immunologic ty...

quantum electrodynamics

(Encyclopedia)quantum electrodynamics (QED), quantum field theory that describes the properties of electromagnetic radiation and its interaction with electrically charged matter in the framework of quantum theory. ...

Franciscans

(Encyclopedia)Franciscans frănsĭsˈkənz [key], members of several Roman Catholic religious orders following the rule of St. Francis (approved by Honorius III, 1223). There are now three organizations of Francisc...

electromagnetic radiation

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Electromagnetic spectrum electromagnetic radiation, energy radiated in the form of a wave as a result of the motion of electric charges. A moving charge gives rise to a magnetic field, and if ...

Arabian music

(Encyclopedia)Arabian music, classical musical tradition of the Islamic peoples of Arabia, the Fertile Crescent, and North Africa. Little is known of Arabian music before the Hegira (a.d. 622), but afterward unde...

sodium chloride

(Encyclopedia)sodium chloride, NaCl, common salt. Salt is important in many ways. It is an essential part of the diet of both humans and animals and is a part of most animal fluids, such as blood, sweat, and te...

cathedral

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Floor plan of a cathedral cathedral, church in which a bishop presides. The designation is not dependent on the size or magnificence of a church edifice, but is entirely a matter of its assign...

Dutch art

(Encyclopedia)Dutch art, the art of the region that is now the Netherlands. As a distinct national style, this art dates from about the turn of the 17th cent., when the country emerged as a political entity and dev...

Italian literature

(Encyclopedia)Italian literature, writings in the Italian language, as distinct from earlier works in Latin and French. In the second half of the 19th cent. Francesco De Sanctis, literary critic and historian, la...

Monroe, James

(Encyclopedia)Monroe, James, 1758–1831, 5th President of the United States (1817–25), b. Westmoreland co., Va. In 1816 Monroe obtained the presidential nomination and was easily elected. During his first admi...