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liter

(Encyclopedia)liter, abbr. l, unit of volume in the metric system, defined since 1964 as equal to 0.001 cubic meters, or 1 cubic decimeter. A cube that has each of its edges equal to 10 centimeters has a volume of ...

Mineral Wells

(Encyclopedia)Mineral Wells, city (1990 pop. 14,870), Palo Pinto and Parker counties, N Tex.; inc. 1882. Aluminum products, bottled mineral water, clothing, and pharmaceuticals are produced, and there is gas proces...

Beauharnois

(Encyclopedia)Beauharnois bōhärˈnwä [key], city, S Que., Canada, on Lake St. Louis, a broadening of the St. ...

terrace

(Encyclopedia)terrace, a level field built on top of a hillslope into the floor of a deep valley to improve cultivation of crops. Terracing uses the runoff from the hill to increase soil retentiveness and arability...

Trans-Alai

(Encyclopedia)Trans-Alai trăns-älīˈ, trănz– [key], mountain range, central Asia, a part of the Pamir-Alai mountain system. The Trans-Alai extends 155 mi (249 km) W from China to form the border between Kyrgy...

vertical circle

(Encyclopedia)vertical circle, in astronomy, the great circle on the celestial sphere that passes from the observer's zenith through a given celestial body. In the altazimuth coordinate system the altitude of a bod...

Farnsworth, Philo Taylor

(Encyclopedia)Farnsworth, Philo Taylor, 1906–71, American inventor, b. Beaver, Utah, grad. Brigham Young Univ., 1925. He demonstrated (1927) a working model of a television system. His “dissector tube” (calle...

Fournier, Pierre Simon

(Encyclopedia)Fournier, Pierre Simon pyĕr sēmôNˈ fo͞ornyāˈ [key], 1712–68, Parisian type founder. Fournier devised the first point system for measuring and naming sizes of type in 1737. He designed a numbe...

Eichler, August Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Eichler, August Wilhelm ouˈgo͝ost vĭlˈhĕlm īkhˈlər [key], 1839–87, German botanist. He worked out the symmetry of the parts of a flower and developed a system of plant classification which, ...

Kawartha Lakes

(Encyclopedia)Kawartha Lakes kəwôrˈthə [key], group of 14 lakes, in a region c.50 mi (80 km) long and c.25 mi (40 km) wide, S Ont., Canada, near the towns of Lindsay and Peterborough. Balsam is the largest lake...