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Kraków

(Encyclopedia)Kraków krăˈkou, Pol. kräˈko͞of [key], Ger. Krakau, city (1994 est. pop. 751,500), capital of Małopolskie prov., S Poland, on the Vistula. A river port and industrial center, it has varied manuf...

Reading, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Reading. rĕdˈĭng [key] 1 Town (1990 pop. 22,539), Middlesex co., NE Mass., a suburb of Boston; settled 1639, set off from Lynn and inc. 1644. Printing is the major industry. A 17th-century tavern i...

Pavia

(Encyclopedia)Pavia pävēˈä [key], city (1991 pop. 79,962), capital of Pavia prov., Lombardy, N Italy, on the Ticino River near its confluence with the Po. Pavia has long been an agricultural center and is now a...

thermometer

(Encyclopedia)thermometer, instrument for measuring temperature. Galileo and Sanctorius devised thermometers consisting essentially of a bulb with a tubular projection, the open end of which was immersed in a liqui...

rivet

(Encyclopedia)rivet, headed metal pin or bolt whose shaft is passed through holes in two or more pieces of metal, wood, plastic, or other material in order to unite them by forming the plain end into a second head....

Serra, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Serra, Richard, 1939–, American sculptor, b. San Francisco; grad. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (B.A., 1961), Yale (B.F.A., M.F.A., 1974). Many of his early works (1960s) are cast in rubber or ...

Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis

(Encyclopedia)Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis zhôzĕfˈ lwē gā-lüsäkˈ [key], 1778–1850, French chemist and physicist. He was professor in Paris at the Sorbonne, at the Polytechnic School, and at the Jardin des Pla...

diarrhea

(Encyclopedia)diarrhea dīərēˈə [key], frequent discharge of watery feces from the intestines, sometimes containing blood and mucus. It can be caused by excessive indulgence in alcohol or other liquids or foods...

pyrite

(Encyclopedia)pyrite pīrīˈtēz, pə–, pīˈrīts [key], pale brass-yellow mineral, the bisulfide of iron, FeS2. It occurs most commonly in crystals (belonging to the isometric system and usually in the form of...

Paraíba, state, Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Paraíba pərīēˈbə [key], state (1991 pop. 3,201,114), 21,765 sq mi (56,371 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is João Pessoa. The state extends inland from the Atlantic to the...