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McMahon, Brien

(Encyclopedia)McMahon, Brien (James O'Brien McMahon), 1903–52, American statesman, b. Norwalk, Conn. After practicing law, he became a judge in Norwalk, and from 1933 to 1936 he served in the office of the U.S. A...

Cockcroft, Sir John Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Cockcroft, Sir John Douglas, 1897–1967, English physicist, educated at the Univ. of Manchester and St. John's College, Cambridge. He was a fellow of St. John's College (1928–46) and professor of n...

chickpea

(Encyclopedia)chickpea, annual plant (Cicer arietinum) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), cultivated since antiquity for the somewhat pealike seeds, which are often used as food and forage, principally in In...

Archimedes' principle

(Encyclopedia)Archimedes' principle, principle that states that a body immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the displaced fluid. The principle applies to both floating and submerged bo...

snowmobile

(Encyclopedia)snowmobile, vehicle designed to travel over snow, ice, and similar surfaces that offer limited traction and weight-supporting capability. As the performance of the vehicle depends to a large extent on...

balance

(Encyclopedia)balance, instrument used in laboratories and pharmacies to measure the mass or weight of a body. A balance functions by measuring the force of gravity that the earth exerts on an object, i.e., its wei...

Dubos, René Jules

(Encyclopedia)Dubos, René Jules rənāˈ zhül dübōˈ [key], 1901–82, American bacteriologist, b. France, Ph.D. Rutgers, 1927. He joined the Rockefeller Institute (now Rockefeller Univ.) in 1927 and became pro...

Oak Ridge

(Encyclopedia)Oak Ridge, city (1990 pop. 27,310), Anderson and Roane counties, E Tenn., on Black Oak Ridge and the Clinch River; founded by the U.S. government 1942, inc. as an independent city 1959. For years Oak ...

Oppenheimer, J. Robert

(Encyclopedia)Oppenheimer, J. Robert ŏpˈənhīˌmər [key], 1904–67, American physicist, b. New York City, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1925), Ph.D. Univ. of Göttingen, 1927. He taught at the Univ. of California and t...

Clostridium

(Encyclopedia)Clostridium, genus of gram-positive bacteria (see Gram's stain), several species of which cause significant, potentially deadly diseases in humans as a result of the toxins that each produces. Clostri...