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silicone

(Encyclopedia)silicone, polymer in which atoms of silicon and oxygen alternate in a chain; various organic radicals, such as the methyl group, CH3, are bound to the silicon atoms. Silicones, which are unusually sta...

New York Times Company v. Sullivan

(Encyclopedia)New York Times Company v. Sullivan, case decided in 1964 by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1960, the Times ran a fundraising advertisement signed by civil-rights leaders that criticized, among other thing...

Sotomayor, Sonia

(Encyclopedia)Sotomayor, Sonia sōtōmīyôrˈ [key], 1954–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2009–), b. Bronx, N.Y., to Puerto Rican parents, grad. Princeton (B.A. 1976), Yale (J.D. 1979). She work...

Spratly Islands

(Encyclopedia)Spratly Islands, group of about 100 low islands and coral reefs in the central South China Sea, intersecting busy shipping lanes. The whole group is claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and parts ar...

verdict

(Encyclopedia)verdict, in law, official decision of a jury respecting questions of fact that the judge has laid before it. In the United States, verdicts must be unanimous in federal courts; majority verdicts are c...

beta particle

(Encyclopedia)beta particle, one of the three types of radiation resulting from natural radioactivity. Beta radiation (or beta rays) was identified and named by E. Rutherford, who found that it consists of high-spe...

legislative apportionment

(Encyclopedia)legislative apportionment, subdivision of a political body (e.g., a state or province) for the purpose of electing legislative representatives. In the United States, the Constitution requires that Con...

Law, William

(Encyclopedia)Law, William, 1686–1761, English clergyman, noted for his controversial, devotional, and mystical writings. One of the nonjurors, Law was deprived of his fellowship in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, a...

Konrad, George

(Encyclopedia)Konrad, George, or György Konrád dyûrˈdyēkônˈräd [key], 1933–2019, Hungarian novelist and dissident. Konrad's first novel, The Case Worker (1969; tr. 1974), was based on his experiences as a...

Kraepelin, Emil

(Encyclopedia)Kraepelin, Emil krĕpəlēnˈ [key], 1856–1926, German psychiatrist, educated at Würzburg (M.D., 1878). He also studied under Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig, and was appointed professor of psychiatry at ...