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stratosphere

(Encyclopedia)stratosphere strătˈəsfēr [key], second lowest layer of the earth's atmosphere. The level from which it extends outward varies with latitude; it begins c.51⁄2 mi (9 km) above the poles, c.6 or 7 ...

snow

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Snow occurs in many different forms. Among the various recognized classes of forms are (A) needles; (B) columns and groups of columns; (C) plates; (D) branched, or dendritic, plates; (E) combin...

Brandenburg, state, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Brandenburg bränˈdənbo͝ork [key], state (1994 est. pop. 2,540,000), c.10,400 sq mi (26,940 sq km), E Germany. Potsdam is the capital; other leading cities include Cottbus, Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, a...

Nematoda

(Encyclopedia)Nematoda nĕmˌətōdˈə [key], phylum consisting of about 12,000 known species, and many more predicted species, of worms (commonly known as roundworms or threadworms). Nematodes live in the soil an...

Lycopodiophyta

(Encyclopedia)Lycopodiophyta līˌkōpōˌdēŏfˈətə [key], division of the plant kingdom consisting of the organisms commonly called club mosses and quillworts. As in other vascular plants, the sporophyte, or s...

scorpion

(Encyclopedia)scorpion, any arachnid of the order Scorpionida with a hollow poisonous stinger at the tip of the tail. Scorpions vary from about 1/2 in. to about 6 in. (1–15 cm) long; most are from 1 to 3 in. (2.5...

Charles V, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Charles V (Charles the Wise), 1338–80, king of France (1364–80). Son of King John II, Charles became the first French heir apparent to bear the title of dauphin after the addition of the region of...

Gestalt

(Encyclopedia)Gestalt gəshtältˈ [key] [Ger.,=form], school of psychology that interprets phenomena as organized wholes rather than as aggregates of distinct parts, maintaining that the whole is greater than the ...

panda

(Encyclopedia)panda, name for two unrelated nocturnal Asian mammals of the order Carnivora, red pandas, genus Ailurus, and the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Red pandas, also known as lesser pandas and cat be...

García Lorca, Federico

(Encyclopedia)García Lorca, Federico fāᵺārēˈkō gärthēˈä lôrˈkä [key], 1898–1936, Spanish poet and dramatist, b. Fuente Vaqueros. The poetry, passion, and violence of his work and his own tragic and...