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Knowles, James Sheridan

(Encyclopedia)Knowles, James Sheridan nōlz [key], 1784–1862, Anglo-Irish dramatist; cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Although he was one of the leading playwrights of his time, his works are seldom produced ...

fiber, dietary

(Encyclopedia)fiber, dietary, bulky part of food that cannot be broken down by enzymes in the small intestine of the digestive system. Almost all natural fiber comes from plants. Although fiber has little nutrition...

Berkshire Hills

(Encyclopedia)Berkshire Hills bûrkˈshər, –shĭr [key], mountainous region of wooded hills with many small lakes and streams, W Mass. The Berkshires are a southern extension of the Green Mts., but the name is g...

sea turtle

(Encyclopedia)sea turtle, name for several species of large marine turtles found in tropical and subtropical oceans. These turtles are modified for life in the ocean by having flipperlike forelimbs without toes and...

carbon cycle

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Carbon cycle carbon cycle, in biology, the exchange of carbon between living organisms and the nonliving environment. Inorganic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is converted by plants into sim...

Smith, Red

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Red (Walter Wellesley Smith), 1905–82, American sportswriter, b. Green Bay, Wis., grad. Notre Dame, 1927. After working on newspapers in St. Louis and Philadelphia, he began a syndicated colu...

sphalerite

(Encyclopedia)sphalerite sfălˈərīt, sfāˈ– [key], mineral composed of zinc sulfide, usually containing some iron and a little cadmium. It occurs in crystals of the isometric system but more generally in clea...

Rukeyser, Muriel

(Encyclopedia)Rukeyser, Muriel ro͞oˈkīsər [key], 1913–80, American poet, b. New York City. Her poetry expresses the beauty and passion in the confrontation between the individual and her constantly changing w...

malachite

(Encyclopedia)malachite mălˈəkīt [key], a mineral, the green basic carbonate of copper occurring in crystals of the monoclinic system or (more usually) in masses. It is translucent or opaque; the luster is silk...

Arlen, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Arlen, Michael, 1895–1956, English novelist, b. Bulgaria as Dikran Kuyumjian. The son of Armenian parents, he was brought to England as a child. In 1922 he became a British subject and changed his n...