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de Gaulle, Charles

(Encyclopedia)de Gaulle, Charles shärl də gōl [key], 1890–1970, French general and statesman, first president (1959–69) of the Fifth Republic. De Gaulle was reelected to a second seven-year term in 1965. A...

Hamas

(Encyclopedia)Hamas hämäsˈ [key] [Arab., = zeal], Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization that was founded in 1987 during the Intifada; it seeks ...

yoga

(Encyclopedia)yoga yōˈgə [key] [Skt.,=union], general term for spiritual disciplines in Hinduism, Buddhism, and throughout S Asia that are directed toward attaining higher consciousness and liberation from ignor...

Dominican Republic

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Dominican Republic dəmĭnˈĭkən [key], republic (2015 est. pop. 10,528,000), 18,700 sq mi (48,442 sq km), West Indies, on the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The capital and ...

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...

oxygen

(Encyclopedia)oxygen, gaseous chemical element; symbol O; at. no. 8; interval in which at. wt. ranges 15.99903–15.99977; m.p. −218.4℃; b.p. −182.962℃; density 1.429 grams per liter at STP; valence −2. T...

colleges and universities

(Encyclopedia)colleges and universities, institutions of higher education. Universities differ from colleges in that they are larger, have wider curricula, are involved in research activities, and grant graduate an...

Descartes, René

(Encyclopedia)Descartes, René rənāˈ dākärtˈ [key], Lat. Renatus Cartesius, 1596–1650, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, b. La Haye. Descartes' methodology was a major influence in the trans...

electronic music

(Encyclopedia)electronic music or electro-acoustic music, term for compositions that utilize the capacities of electronic media for creating and altering sounds. Initially, a distinction must be made between the te...

imperialism

(Encyclopedia)imperialism, broadly, the extension of rule or influence by one government, nation, or society over another. Imperialism was reborn in the West with the emergence of the modern nation-state and the ...