(Encyclopedia) Marsh test, method for the detection of arsenic, so sensitive that it can be used to detect minute amounts of arsenic in foods (the residue of fruit spray) or in stomach contents. The…
(Encyclopedia) act of God, in law, an accident caused by the operation of extraordinary natural force. The effect of ordinary natural causes (e.g., that rain will leak through a defective roof) may…
(Encyclopedia) Williams, Ephraim, 1715–55, American soldier, founder of Williams College, b. Newton, Mass. After several years as a sailor, he lived in Massachusetts and took part in defending the…
(Encyclopedia) Wright, Willard Huntington, pseud. S. S. Van Dine, 1888–1939, American art critic and mystery story writer, b. Charlottesville, Va. He attended college in California and later studied…
(Encyclopedia) Brent, Margaret, 1600?–1671?, early American feminist, b. Gloucester, England. With her two brothers and a sister, she left England to settle (1638) in St. Marys City, Md., where she…
(Encyclopedia) Cannon, George Quayle, 1827–1901, Mormon apostle, b. Liverpool, England. He and his parents were converted to Mormonism in 1840; from the Isle of Man they emigrated to Nauvoo, Ill., in…
(Encyclopedia) Hume, DavidHume, Davidhy&oomacr;m [key], 1711–76, Scottish philosopher and historian. Educated at Edinburgh, he lived (1734–37) in France, where he finished his first philosophical…
(Encyclopedia) goatsucker, common name for nocturnal or crepuscular birds of the order Caprimulgiformes, which includes the frogmouth, the oilbird, potoos, and nightjars. Goatsuckers are medium in…
(Encyclopedia)
CE5
CE6
Nobel Prize, award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred…
(Encyclopedia) paleomagnetism, study of the intensity and orientation of the earth's magnetic field as preserved in the magnetic orientation of certain minerals found in rocks formed throughout…
