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earthworm

(Encyclopedia)earthworm, terrestrial, cylindrical segmented worm of the class Oligochaeta. There are 2,200 earthworm species, found all over the world except in arid and arctic regions and ranging in size from 1 in...

tortoise

(Encyclopedia)tortoise tôrˈtəs [key], common name for a terrestrial turtle, especially one of the family Testudinidae. Tortoises inhabit warm regions of all continents except Australia. They have club-shaped fee...

Northern Territory

(Encyclopedia)Northern Territory, territory (2016 pop. 228,833), 520,280 sq mi (1,347,525 sq km), N central Australia. It is bounded on the N by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea, and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Darwin i...

Humboldt, Alexander, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Humboldt, Alexander, Freiherr von hŭmˈbōlt, Ger. älĕksänˈdər frīˈhĕr fən ho͝omˈbôlt [key], 1769–1859, German naturalist, inventor, explorer, and author, the most eminent scientist of ...

Fisher, Sir Ronald Aylmer

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, Sir Ronald Aylmer, 1890–1962, English statistician and geneticist, b. East Finchley, Middlesex, England; educated at Cambridge (1909–1915; Sc.D., 1926). From 1919 to 1933 he worked at the ...

Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich ĕrnst hīnˈrĭkh hĕˈkəl [key], 1834–1919, German biologist and philosopher. He taught (1862–1909) at the Univ. of Jena. An early exponent of Darwinism in Germany, he e...

Lichfield

(Encyclopedia)Lichfield, town (1991 pop. 25,408) and district, Staffordshire, W central England. Lichfield is a market town with light industries, famous for its three-spired cathedral and its close associations wi...

academic freedom

(Encyclopedia)academic freedom, right of scholars to pursue research, to teach, and to publish without control or restraint from the institutions that employ them. It is a civil right that is enjoyed, at least in s...

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