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Work Projects Administration

(Encyclopedia)Work Projects Administration (WPA), former U.S. government agency, established in 1935 by executive order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the Works Progress Administration; it was renamed th...

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

(Encyclopedia)International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), worldwide organization of medical groups dedicated to eliminating nuclear weapons and preventing nuclear war, est. 1980. Based in Ca...

SI, abbreviation for the International System of Units

(Encyclopedia)SI: see International System of Units. ...

Kim Dae Jung

(Encyclopedia)Kim Dae Jung kĭm dā jo͝ong [key], 1924–2009, president (1998–2003) of South Korea. A native of South Jeolla prov., Kim was a long-time campaigner for increased democracy and a writer on interna...

saprophyte

(Encyclopedia)saprophyte săpˈrəfītˌ [key], any plant that depends on dead plant or animal tissue for a source of nutrition and metabolic energy, e.g., most fungi (molds) and a few flowering plants, such as Ind...

Defense, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Defense, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to nationa...

chemistry

(Encyclopedia)chemistry, branch of science concerned with the properties, composition, and structure of substances and the changes they undergo when they combine or react under specified conditions. Organic chemi...

Hiroshima

(Encyclopedia)Hiroshima hĭrˌōshēˈmə, hērōˈshmä [key], city, capital of Hiroshima prefectu...

Joule, James Prescott

(Encyclopedia)Joule, James Prescott jo͞ol, joul [key], 1818–89, English physicist. His scientific researches began in his youth when he invented an electromagnetic engine. Joule made valuable contributions to th...

autotroph

(Encyclopedia)autotroph ôtˈətrōfˌ [key], in biology, an organism capable of synthesizing its own organic substances from inorganic compounds. Autotrophs produce their own sugars, lipids, and amino acids using ...