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Angelico, Fra

(Encyclopedia)Angelico, Fra frä änjĕlˈĭkō [key], c.1400–1455, Florentine painter, b. Vicchio, Tuscany. He was variously named Guido (his baptismal name), or Guidolino, di Pietro; and Giovanni da Fiesole. Af...

geophysics

(Encyclopedia)geophysics, study of the structure, composition, and dynamic changes of the earth, its atmosphere, hydrosphere and magnetosphere, based on the principles of physics. The term was probably first used i...

foehn

(Encyclopedia)foehn fān, Ger. fön [key], warm, dry wind that occurs on the leeward slopes of a ridge of mountains. The term was originally applied to a wind of the Alps but is now used as a generic term for all w...

subsidence

(Encyclopedia)subsidence, lowering of a portion of the earth's crust. The subsidence of land areas over time has resulted in submergence by shallow seas (see oceans). Land subsidence can occur naturally or through ...

Bouillon, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Bouillon, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, duc de dük də bo͞oyôNˈ [key], 1555–1623, marshal of France, diplomat, and Protestant leader. He served with Henry IV against the Cath...

Suso, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Suso, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh zo͞oˈzō [key], c.1295–1366, German mystic, a Dominican friar, also known as Henry Suso. While studying at Cologne he came under the influence of Meister Eckhart, whose ...

methane

(Encyclopedia)methane mĕthˈān [key], CH4, colorless, odorless, gaseous saturated hydrocarbon; the simplest alkane. It is less dense than air, melts at −184℃, and boils at −161.4℃. It is combustible and c...

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

(Encyclopedia)United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or Earth Summit, an 11-day meeting held in June, 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss the global conflict between economic devel...

supercomputer

(Encyclopedia)supercomputer, a state-of-the-art, extremely powerful computer capable of manipulating massive amounts of data in a relatively short time. Supercomputers are very expensive and are employed for specia...

climate

(Encyclopedia)climate, average condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface over a long period of time, taking into account temperature, precipitation (see rain), humidity, wind, barometric pressure, and ot...