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Wickersham, George Woodward

(Encyclopedia)Wickersham, George Woodward, 1858–1936, American lawyer and government official, b. Pittsburgh. He began law practice in Philadelphia, and after moving (1882) to New York City, he became a prominent...

jurisprudence

(Encyclopedia)jurisprudence jo͝orˌĭspro͞odˈəns [key], study of the nature and the origin and development of law. It is variously regarded as a branch of ethics or of sociology. Many of the major systematic ph...

Stewart, Potter

(Encyclopedia)Stewart, Potter, 1915–85, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1958–81), b. Jackson, Mich. After receiving (1941) his law degree from Yale, he was admitted to the Ohio bar. He later practi...

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, American jurist

(Encyclopedia)Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1841–1935, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1902–32), b. Boston; son of the writer Oliver Wendell Holmes. He served (1861–64) with distinctio...

Landrum-Griffin Act

(Encyclopedia)Landrum-Griffin Act, 1959, passed by the U.S. Congress, officially known as the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. It resulted from hearings of the Senate committee on improper activities ...

Thomson, James , 1834–82, Scottish poet and essayist

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, James, 1834–82, Scottish poet and essayist. He is remembered for his darkly pessimistic poem The City of Dreadful Night. He was raised in an orphan asylum and became (1851) an army teacher ...

sertão

(Encyclopedia)sertão sərˈtouN [key] [Port.,=backlands], semiarid hinterland of NE Brazil; c.250,000 sq mi (647,500 sq km). Its characteristic landscape is the caatinga, or thorny scrub forest. The chief occupati...

polycythemia

(Encyclopedia)polycythemia pŏlˌēsīthēˈmēə [key], condition characterized by an increase in the production of red blood cells, or erythrocytes, in the blood. Primary polycythemia, also called erythremia, or ...

holmium

(Encyclopedia)holmium hōlˈmēəm [key] [Lat.,=Stockholm], metallic chemical element; symbol Ho; at. no. 67; at. wt. 164.93032; m.p. about 1,474℃; b.p. about 2,425℃; sp. gr. 8.78 at 25℃; valence +3. Holmium ...

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(Encyclopedia)Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), scientific panel created (1988) by two United Nations organizations, the UN Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization. Open to all...