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feather star

(Encyclopedia)feather star, common name of a class of echinoderms that, as juveniles, are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk with rootlike branches; the mouth side faces upward. In the adult stage they break awa...

French, John Denton Pinkstone, 1st earl of Ypres

(Encyclopedia)French, John Denton Pinkstone, 1st earl of Ypres ēˈprə [key], 1852–1925, British field marshal. After a long career in the army, during which he served in Sudan (1884–85) and in the South Afric...

Apodaca, Juan Ruiz de

(Encyclopedia)Apodaca, Juan Ruiz de hwän ro͞oēthˈ dā äpōᵺäˈkä [key], 1754–1835, Spanish viceroy and military leader. He was sent to London by the Central Junta of Seville to gain English support again...

irritable bowel syndrome

(Encyclopedia)irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), condition characterized by constipation, diarrhea, or alternating constipation and diarrhea in the absence of any disease process. It is usually accompanied by abdomina...

Stamitz, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Stamitz, Johann yōˈhän shtäˈmĭts [key], 1717–57, Bohemian-German composer. Stamitz came to Mannheim (1741) and became (1745) concertmaster of the Mannheim orchestra. He made it the best in Eur...

Carpenter, Malcolm Scott

(Encyclopedia)Carpenter, Malcolm Scott, 1925–2013, American astronaut, b. Boulder, Colo. The second American to go into orbital flight around the earth, he made his historic and suspenseful flight on May 24, 1962...

Atanasoff, John Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Atanasoff, John Vincent, 1903–1995, inventor of the digital computer, b. Hamilton, N.Y., grad. Univ. of Florida (B.S., 1925), Iowa State College (M.S., 1926), Univ. of Wisconsin (Ph.D., 1930). While...

Morris, Richard Brandon

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Richard Brandon, 1904–89, American historian, b. New York City. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1930, taught (1927–49) at the College of the City of New York, became a professor at ...

Leeuwenhoek, Antony van

(Encyclopedia)Leeuwenhoek, Antony van änˈtōnē vän lāˈvənho͞okˌ [key], 1632–1723, Dutch student of natural history and maker of microscopes, b. Delft. His use of lenses in examining cloth as a draper's a...

Geddes, Sir Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Geddes, Sir Patrick gĕdˈĭs [key], 1854–1932, Scottish biologist and sociologist, distinguished especially in town planning. He received his biological training in T. H. Huxley's laboratory; from ...