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zone

(Encyclopedia)zone [Gr.,=girdle], in geography, area with a certain physical and/or cultural unity that distinguishes it from other areas. The division of the earth into five climatic zones probably originated (5th...

Wegener, Alfred Lothar

(Encyclopedia)Wegener, Alfred Lothar älˈfrĕt lōtärˈ vĕgˈənər [key], 1880–1930, German geologist, meteorologist, and Arctic explorer. Early in his life, he was on the staff of the aeronautical observator...

Royal, Ségolène

(Encyclopedia)Royal, Ségolène (Marie-Ségolène Royal) märēˈ-sāgōlĕnˈ rwäyälˈ [key], 1953–, French politician, b. Dakar, Senegal. A graduate of the École Nationale d'Administration (1980) who worked ...

Hardwick, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Hardwick, Elizabeth, 1916–2007, American literary critic, novelist, and short-story writer, b. Lexington, Ky.; grad Univ. of Kentucky (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939). She moved (1939) to New York City, whe...

Maupassant, Guy de

(Encyclopedia)Maupassant, Guy de gē də mōpäsäNˈ [key], 1850–93, French novelist and short-story writer, of an ancient Norman family. He worked in a government office at Paris and became known c.1880 as the ...

Niebuhr, Reinhold

(Encyclopedia)Niebuhr, Reinhold rīnˈhōld nēˈbo͝or [key], 1892–1971, American religious and social thinker, b. Wright City, Mo. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he served (1915–28) as pastor of Bethel E...

Lyme disease

(Encyclopedia)Lyme disease or Lyme borreliosis, a nonfatal bacterial infection that causes symptoms ranging from fever and headache to a painful swelling of the joints. The first American case of Lyme's characteris...

Leo X, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo X, 1475–1521, pope (1513–21), a Florentine named Giovanni de' Medici; successor of Julius II. He was the son of Lorenzo de' Medici, was made a cardinal in his boyhood, and was head of his fami...

wheel and axle

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Wheel and axle wheel and axle, simple machine consisting of a wheel mounted rigidly upon an axle or drum of smaller diameter, the wheel and the axle having the same axis. It is fundamentally a...

barrow, in archaeology

(Encyclopedia)barrow, in archaeology, a burial mound. Earth and stone or timber are the usual construction materials; in parts of SE Asia stone and brick have entirely replaced earth. A barrow built primarily of st...