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cabinet

(Encyclopedia)cabinet, group of advisers to the head of the state who themselves are usually the heads of the administrative government departments. The nature of the cabinet differs widely in various countries. In...

exobiology

(Encyclopedia)exobiology or astrobiology, search for extraterrestrial life within the solar system and throughout the universe. Philosophical speculation that there might be other worlds similar to ours dates back ...

prion

(Encyclopedia)prion prēˈŏn [key], abnormal form of a protein found in mammals, now generally believed to cause a group of diseases known as prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which are ...

New Guinea

(Encyclopedia)New Guinea gĭnˈē [key], island, c.342,000 sq mi (885,780 sq km), SW Pacific, N of Australia; the world's second largest island after Greenland. Politically it is divided into two sections: the Indo...

Spielberg, Steven

(Encyclopedia)Spielberg, Steven, 1946–, American film director, b. Cincinnati, Ohio. Spielberg began his career as a television director, admired for his understanding portrayal of human character. His film Jaws ...

Mailer, Norman

(Encyclopedia)Mailer, Norman (Norman Kingsley Mailer), 1923–2007, American writer, b. Long Branch, N.J., grad. Harvard, 1943. He grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., served in the army during World War II, and at the age o...

New Deal

(Encyclopedia)New Deal, in U.S. history, term for the domestic reform program of the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt; it was first used by Roosevelt in his speech accepting the Democratic party nominati...

Newton, Sir Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Newton, Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English mathematician and natural philosopher (physicist), who is considered by many the greatest scientist that ever lived. Newton was his university's representa...

calligraphy

(Encyclopedia)calligraphy kəlĭgˈrəfē [key] [Gr.,=beautiful writing], skilled penmanship practiced as a fine art. See also inscription; paleography. The art of calligraphy is also practiced with the limited l...

Zionism

(Encyclopedia)Zionism, modern political movement for reconstituting a Jewish national state in Palestine. After World War II the Zionist movement intensified its activities. The sufferings of the European Jews at...