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celestial mechanics

(Encyclopedia)celestial mechanics, the study of the motions of astronomical bodies as they move under the influence of their mutual gravitation. Celestial mechanics analyzes the orbital motions of planets, dwarf pl...

MacMahon, Marie Edmé Patrice de

(Encyclopedia)MacMahon, Marie Edmé Patrice de märēˈ ĕdmāˈ pätrēsˈ də mäkmäōNˈ [key], 1808–93, president of the French republic (1873–79), marshal of France. MacMahon, of Irish descent, fought in ...

Hammurabi

(Encyclopedia)Hammurabi hämo͝oräˈbē [key], fl. 1792–1750 b.c., king of Babylonia. He founded an empire that was eventually destroyed by raids from Asia Minor. Hammurabi may have begun building the tower of B...

separation

(Encyclopedia)separation, in law, either the voluntary agreement of husband and wife to live apart or a partial dissolution of the marriage relation by court order. The marriage bond remains, and remarriage of eith...

Cumberland, Richard, 1631–1718, English philosopher

(Encyclopedia)Cumberland, Richard, 1631–1718, English philosopher. He was bishop of Peterborough from 1691. In his De legibus naturae [on natural laws] (1672) he first propounded the doctrine of utilitarianism an...

extraterritoriality

(Encyclopedia)extraterritoriality or exterritoriality, privilege of immunity from local law enforcement enjoyed by certain aliens. Although physically present upon the territory of a foreign nation, those aliens po...

militia

(Encyclopedia)militia məlĭshˈə [key], military organization composed of citizens enrolled and trained for service in times of national emergency. Its ranks may be filled either by enlistment or conscription. An...

Porter, George, Baron Porter of Luddenham

(Encyclopedia)Porter, George, Baron Porter of Luddenham, 1920–2002, British chemist, b. Stainforth, England, grad. Leeds Univ., Ph.D. Cambridge, 1949. After serving as a radar officer during World War II, he did ...

Udall, Stewart Lee

(Encyclopedia)Udall, Stewart Lee yo͞oˈdôl [key], 1920–2010, U.S. cabinet member and environmentalist, b. St. Johns, Ariz. After serving in World War II, Udall practiced law in Tucson until elected to the U.S. ...