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bee

(Encyclopedia)bee, name for flying insects of the superfamily Apoidea, in the same order as the ants and the wasps. Bees are characterized by their enlarged hind feet, typically equipped with pollen baskets of stif...

book

(Encyclopedia)book. The word book has come to have many meanings, e.g., any collection of sheets of paper, wood, or other material sewn or bound together; a division of a written work (books of the Bible, books of ...

X-ray astronomy

(Encyclopedia)X-ray astronomy, study of celestial objects by means of the X rays they emit, in the wavelength range from 0.01 to 10 nanometers. X-ray astronomy dates to 1949 with the discovery that the sun emits X ...

Roman law

(Encyclopedia)Roman law, the legal system of Rome from the supposed founding of the city in 753 b.c. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in a.d. 1453; it was later adopted as the basis of modern civil law. Most aut...

skyscraper

(Encyclopedia)skyscraper, modern building of great height, constructed on a steel skeleton. The form originated in the United States. By convention, a skyscraper is a building that is used primarily for human h...

battery, electric

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Lead storage cell: At the lead-dioxide electrode, electrons from the circuit combine with lead dioxide and sulfuric acid to form lead sulfate and water. At the spongy-lead electrode, lead react...

Eisenhower, Dwight David

(Encyclopedia)Eisenhower, Dwight David īˈzənhouˌər [key], 1890–1969, American general and 34th President of the United States, b. Denison, Tex.; his nickname was “Ike.” In his farewell address as pr...

embryo

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Development of the human embryo embryo ĕmˈbrēō [key], name for the developing young of an animal or plant. In its widest definition, the embryo is the young from the moment of fertilizatio...

Industrial Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Industrial Revolution, term usually applied to the social and economic changes that mark the transition from a stable agricultural and commercial society to a modern industrial society relying on comp...

abolitionists

(Encyclopedia)abolitionists, in U.S. history, particularly in the three decades before the Civil War, members of the movement that agitated for the compulsory emancipation of the slaves. Abolitionists are distingui...