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paraffin

(Encyclopedia)paraffin, white, more-or-less translucent, odorless, tasteless, waxy solid. It melts between 47℃ and 65℃ and is insoluble in water but soluble in ether, benzene, and certain esters. Paraffin is un...

water gas

(Encyclopedia)water gas, colorless poisonous gas that burns with an intensely hot, bluish (nearly colorless) flame. The gas is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen with very small amounts of other gases, e.g.,...

Watergate affair

(Encyclopedia)Watergate affair, in U.S. history, series of scandals involving the administration of President Richard M. Nixon; more specifically, the burglarizing of the Democratic party national headquarters in t...

Daiches, David

(Encyclopedia)Daiches, David dāˈchēz [key], 1912–2005, British critic, b. Sunderland. A graduate of Edinburgh Univ. and Oxford (M.A., 1934; Ph.D., 1939), Daiches taught at several English universities and wrot...

neomycin

(Encyclopedia)neomycin nēˌōmīˈsĭn [key], broad spectrum antibiotic effective against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria (see Gram's stain). It interferes with protein synthesis in sensitive bacteri...

Robert II, duke of Normandy

(Encyclopedia)Robert II (Robert Curthose), c.1054–1134, duke of Normandy (1087–1106); eldest son of King William I of England. Aided by King Philip I of France, he rebelled (1077) against his father. Father and...

Lockhart, John Gibson

(Encyclopedia)Lockhart, John Gibson, 1794–1854, Scottish editor, lawyer, literary critic, and biographer; son-in-law and biographer of Sir Walter Scott. A major contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, he also was ed...

Woollcott, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Woollcott, Alexander, 1887–1943, American author and critic, b. Phalanx, N.J., grad. Hamilton College, 1909. Woollcott's flamboyant personality combined sharpness of wit with sentimentality. He was ...

flame

(Encyclopedia)flame, phenomenon associated with the chemical reaction of a gas that has been heated above its kindling temperature with some other gas, usually atmospheric oxygen (see combustion). The heat and ligh...

De Niro, Robert Anthony Jr.

(Encyclopedia) De Niro, Robert Anthony, Jr., 1943-, American film actor and director, b. New York, N.Y. Both of De Niro’s parents were painters; De Niro was raised...