(Encyclopedia) Air Force, United States Department of the, military department within the U.S. Dept. of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). The Air Force traces its roots to the…
(Encyclopedia) W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva,…
(Encyclopedia) South, the, region of the United States embracing the southeastern and south-central parts of the country. Traditionally, all states S of the Mason-Dixon Line and the Ohio River (…
(Encyclopedia) Ozarks, the, or Ozark Plateau, upland region, actually a dissected plateau, c.50,000 sq mi (129,500 sq km), chiefly in S Mo. and N Ark., but partly in Oklahoma and Kansas, between the…
(Encyclopedia) Pearl, The, one of four Middle English alliterative poems, all contained in a manuscript of c.1400, composed in the West Midland dialect, almost certainly by the same anonymous author…
(Encyclopedia) Downs, The, roadstead, c.8 mi (13 km) long and 6 mi (9.7 km) wide, between North Foreland and South Foreland, off Deal, Kent, SE England, in the English Channel. It is protected,…