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epilepsy

(Encyclopedia)epilepsy, a chronic disorder of cerebral function characterized by periodic convulsive seizures. There are many conditions that have epileptic seizures. Sudden discharge of excess electrical activity,...

Nelson, river, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, river, c.400 mi (640 km) long, issuing from the northeast end of Lake Winnipeg, central Man., Canada, and flowing NE to Hudson Bay at Port Nelson. With the Bow–South Saskatchewan–Saskatche...

idealism

(Encyclopedia)idealism, the attitude that places special value on ideas and ideals as products of the mind, in comparison with the world as perceived through the senses. In art idealism is the tendency to represent...

Horkheimer, Max

(Encyclopedia)Horkheimer, Max hôrkˈhīˌmər, hôrˈkīˌ– [key], 1895–1973, German philosopher and sociologist. As director (1930–58) of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, he played an importa...

Costa, Isaäc da

(Encyclopedia)Costa, Isaäc da ēˈsä-äk dä kôˈstä [key], 1798–1860, Dutch poet and historian, b. Amsterdam, of an aristocratic Sephardic Jewish family. Deeply influenced by Bilderdijk, he entered (1822) th...

river

(Encyclopedia)river, stream of water larger than a brook or creek. Land surfaces are never perfectly flat, and as a result the runoff after precipitation tends to flow downward by the shortest and steepest course i...

Dylan, Bob

(Encyclopedia)Dylan, Bob dĭlˈən [key], 1941–, American singer and composer, b. Duluth, Minn., as Robert Zimmerman. Dylan learned guitar at the age of 10 and autoharp and harmonica at 15. After a rebellious you...

Sender, Ramón José

(Encyclopedia)Sender, Ramón José rämōnˈhōsāˈsāndĕrˈ [key], 1902–82, Spanish novelist. A journalist, Sender fought on the side of the Loyalists in the Spanish civil war. He left Spain in 1938 and became...

sandblast

(Encyclopedia)sandblast, stream of sand or other abrasive particles driven by a jet of compressed air or water or by centrifugal force against a surface to clean or abrade it. When centrifugal force is used, the ab...

Taklimakan

(Encyclopedia)Taklimakan or Takla Makan täˌkləməkänˈ [key], vast sandy desert, c.125,000 sq mi (323,750 sq km), central Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, NW China, between the Kunlun Mts. on the south and the...