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Kelvin, William Thomson, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Kelvin, William Thomson, 1st Baron, 1824–1907, British mathematician and physicist, b. Belfast. He was professor of natural philosophy at the Univ. of Glasgow (1846–99). He is known especially for...

liquid air

(Encyclopedia)liquid air, ordinary air that has been liquefied by compression and cooling to extremely low temperatures (see liquefaction). Its commercial preparation involves purification by washing to remove solu...

Aristide, Jean-Bertrand

(Encyclopedia)Aristide, Jean-Bertrand zhänˈ bĕrträndˈ äˌrēstēdˈ [key], 1953–, president of Haiti (1991, 1994–96, 2001–4). A radical Catholic priest who defended liberation theology, he worked among ...

Karadžić, Radovan

(Encyclopedia)Karadžić, Radovan räˈdōvän käˈräjĭch [key], 1945–, Bosnian Serb physician, author, and political leader, b. Savnik, Montenegro, Yugoslavia. The son of a Serb nationalist and World War II r...

placebo

(Encyclopedia)placebo pləsēˈbō [key], inert substance given instead of a potent drug. Placebo medications are sometimes prescribed when a drug is not really needed or when one would not be appropriate because t...

caffeine

(Encyclopedia)caffeine kăfēnˈ [key], odorless, slightly bitter alkaloid found in coffee, tea, kola nuts (see cola), ilex plants (the source of the Latin American drink maté), and, in small amounts, in cocoa (se...

vibration

(Encyclopedia)vibration, in physics, commonly an oscillatory motion—a movement first in one direction and then back again in the opposite direction. It is exhibited, for example, by a swinging pendulum, by the pr...

Wang Mang

(Encyclopedia)Wang Mang wäng mäng [key], 45 b.c.–a.d. 23, Chinese Han dynasty regent who usurped the throne and ruled (a.d. 8–23) as emperor of the Hsin [new] court, carrying out many reforms. Although he por...

Sagan, Carl Edward

(Encyclopedia)Sagan, Carl Edward sāˈgən [key], 1934–96, American astronomer and popularizer of science, b. New York City. Early in his career he investigated radio emissions from Venus and concluded that the c...

Bassiouni, M. Cherif

(Encyclopedia)Bassiouni, M. Cherif (Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni), 1937–2017, Egyptian-American international criminal law jurist and human-rights advocate, b. Cairo. Bassiouni fought for Egypt in the Suez conflict (...