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business cycles

(Encyclopedia)business cycles, fluctuations in economic activity characterized by periods of rising and falling fiscal health. During a business cycle, an economy grows, reaches a peak, and then begins a downturn f...

Burnet, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Burnet, Thomas, c.1635–1715, English cleric and scientist, b. Croft, in Yorkshire, England. He was educated at Northallerton and Cambridge. Following travels in Europe, Burnet published in 1681 the ...

Walras, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Walras, Léon, 1834–1910, French economist. After abandoning his studies in mining engineering, he became a freelance journalist, advancing the causes of economic and social reform. He later became ...

nuclear winter

(Encyclopedia)nuclear winter, theory holding that the smoke and dust produced by a large nuclear war would result in a prolonged period of cold on the earth. The earliest version of the theory, which was put forwar...

uniformitarianism

(Encyclopedia)uniformitarianism, in geology, doctrine holding that changes in the earth's surface that occurred in past geologic time are referable to the same causes as changes now being produced upon the earth's ...

Yukawa, Hideki

(Encyclopedia)Yukawa, Hideki hēˈdĕkē yo͞okäˈwä [key], 1907–81, Japanese physicist, grad. Kyoto Univ., 1929, Ph.D. Osaka Univ., 1938. He was professor of physics at Kyoto Univ. from 1939 to 1970. He receiv...

Boyle, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Boyle, Robert, 1627–91, Anglo-Irish physicist and chemist. The seventh son of the 1st earl of Cork, he was educated at Eton and on the Continent and conducted most of his researches at his own labor...

intoxication

(Encyclopedia)intoxication, condition of body tissue affected by a poisonous substance. Poisonous materials, or toxins, are to be found in heavy metals such as lead and mercury, in drugs, in chemicals such as alcoh...

Garofalo, Raffaele

(Encyclopedia)Garofalo, Raffaele gärôˈfälō [key], 1851–1934, Italian jurist and criminologist. He studied at the Univ. of Naples, where he later taught law and criminal procedure. Second only to Enrico Ferr...

Romer, Paul Michael

(Encyclopedia)Romer, Paul Michael, 1955–, American economist, b. Denver, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1983. He has taught at the Univ. of Rochester (1982–88), Univ. of Chicago (1988–90), Univ. of California at Ber...