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Challoner, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Challoner, Richard chălˈənər [key], 1691–1781, English Roman Catholic prelate. Brought up a Protestant, he became a Roman Catholic in his teens and was ordained in 1716. In 1730 he returned from...

instinct

(Encyclopedia)instinct, term used generally to indicate an innate tendency to action, or pattern of behavior, elicited by specific stimuli and fulfilling vital needs of an organism. Examples of almost purely instin...

Hsüan-tsang

(Encyclopedia)Hsüan-tsang shüän-dzäng [key], 605?–664, Chinese Buddhist scholar and translator. He early entered monastic life and later traveled in China, teaching and studying. Between 629 and 645 he made a...

Needham, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Needham, Joseph nēdˈəm [key], 1900–1995, British biochemist, historian of science, and sinologist, b. London. He had a lifelong association with Cambridge, where he was educated (Ph.D. 1924), tau...

Lowell, Abbott Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Lowell, Abbott Lawrence, 1856–1943, American educator, president of Harvard (1909–33), b. Boston, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1877; LL.B., 1880); brother of Percival Lowell and Amy Lowell. He practiced l...

bee fly

(Encyclopedia)bee fly, name for the small- to medium-sized flies of the family Bombyliidae, many of which resemble bees in appearance and behavior. This mimicry provides bee flies with some measure of protection ag...

spinning

(Encyclopedia)spinning, the drawing out, twisting, and winding of fibers into a continuous thread or yarn. From antiquity until the Industrial Revolution, spinning was a household industry. The roughly carded fiber...

pneumatic tool

(Encyclopedia)pneumatic tool no͝omătˈĭk [key], instrument activated by air pressure. Pneumatic tools are designed around three basic devices: the air cylinder, the vane motor, and the sprayer. The air cylinder ...

Hellenistic civilization

(Encyclopedia)Hellenistic civilization. The conquests of Alexander the Great spread Hellenism immediately over the Middle East and far into Asia. After his death in 323 b.c., the influence of Greek civilization con...

Alfonso VI, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso VI, 1643–83, king of Portugal (1656–83), son and successor of John IV. Slightly paralyzed and mentally defective, he led a dissolute youth until he came under the influence of the count of...