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bird-of-paradise flower

(Encyclopedia)bird-of-paradise flower, large tropical herb (Strelitzia reginae) of the family Musaceae (banana family), native to S Africa. Its large blue and orange blossom resembles an exotic bird; it is cultivat...

Bishop, John Michael

(Encyclopedia)Bishop, John Michael, 1936–, American biologist, b. York, Penn., M.D. Harvard, 1962. He worked (1964–68) as a researcher at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., before joining the f...

Barnard, Edward Emerson

(Encyclopedia)Barnard, Edward Emerson, 1857–1923, American astronomer, b. Nashville, Tenn., grad. Vanderbilt Univ., 1887. From 1887 to 1895 he was astronomer at Lick Observatory in California, and from 1895 he wa...

San Rafael

(Encyclopedia)San Rafael săn rəfĕlˈ [key], residential city (1990 pop. 48,404), seat of Marin co., W Calif., a suburb of San Francisco on the northern shore of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1913. Several large compan...

Riley, Charles Valentine

(Encyclopedia)Riley, Charles Valentine, 1843–95, American entomologist, b. England. He emigrated to the United States in 1860 and served as state entomologist (1868–77) of Missouri and as entomologist (1878–7...

gasoline

(Encyclopedia)gasoline or petrol, light, volatile mixture of hydrocarbons for use in the internal-combustion engine and as an organic solvent, obtained primarily by fractional distillation and “cracking” of pet...

laurel, in botany

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Sassafras, Sassafras albidum, a member of the laurel family laurel, common name for the Lauraceae, a family of forest trees and shrubs found mainly in tropical SE Asia but also abundant in tro...

Eagle Pass

(Encyclopedia)Eagle Pass, city (2020 pop. 28,130), seat of Maverick co., W Tex., a port of entry on the Rio Grande opposite Piedras Negras, Mexico; inc. 1918. Linked ...

Denver, James William

(Encyclopedia)Denver, James William, 1817–92, American territorial governor, army officer, and congressman, b. Winchester, Va. He commanded a company of Missouri volunteers in the Mexican War, then went (1850) to...

Cram, Donald James

(Encyclopedia)Cram, Donald James, 1919–2001, American chemist, b. Chester, Vt., Ph.D. Harvard, 1947. A professor at the Univ. of California at Los Angeles, Cram expanded on the work of Charles J. Pedersen by synt...