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Guðmundsson, Kristmann

(Encyclopedia)Guðmundsson, Kristmann krĭstˈmän gvüᵺˈmünsôn [key], 1901–83, Icelandic novelist. Guðmundsson lived in Norway from 1924 to 1937 and wrote in both Norwegian and Icelandic. His sensitive nov...

mean

(Encyclopedia)mean, in statistics, a type of average. The arithmetic mean of a group of numbers is found by dividing their sum by the number of members in the group; e.g., the sum of the seven numbers 4, 5, 6, 9, 1...

solar constant

(Encyclopedia)solar constant, the average amount of radiant energy received by the earth's atmosphere from the sun; its value is about 2 calories per min incident on each square centimeter of the upper atmosphere. ...

galleon

(Encyclopedia)galleon, oceangoing warship used by the European naval powers in the 15th and 16th cent. A large, cumbersome vessel, the galleon was three-masted and square-rigged, usually with two decks, and with it...

minaret

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Minaret minaret mĭnərĕtˈ [key], tower, used in Islamic architecture, from which the faithful are called to prayer by a muezzin. Most mosques have one or more small towers, which are usuall...

Cambridge, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Cambridge. 1 City (2020 pop. 13,096), seat of Dorchester co., E Md., Eastern Shore, a port of entry on the Choptank River at its mouth on ...

Hersey, John Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hersey, John Richard hûrˈsē [key], 1914–93, American author, b. China, grad. Yale, 1936, where he later taught writing (1965–84); studied Cambridge. Reflecting his experiences as a war correspo...

Kunstler, William Moses

(Encyclopedia)Kunstler, William Moses, 1919–95, American lawyer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1941), Columbia law school (1948). Flamboyant and often brilliant, Kunstler defended the unpopular and unfailingly su...

Wade, Abdoulaye

(Encyclopedia)Wade, Abdoulaye äbdo͞olīˈə wäd [key], 1926–, Senegalese political leader. He studied at several French universities, receiving (1970) a doctorate in law and economics from the Sorbonne, and wa...

body snatching

(Encyclopedia)body snatching, the stealing of corpses from graves and morgues. Before cadavers were legally available for dissection and study by medical students, traffic in stolen bodies was profitable. Those who...