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shearwater

(Encyclopedia)shearwater, common name for members of the family Procellariidae, gull-like sea birds related to the petrel and the albatross and including the fulmar. Shearwaters are found on unfrozen saltwaters all...

shipworm

(Encyclopedia)shipworm or teredo tĕrēˈdō [key], marine bivalve mollusk of the family Teredinidae, specialized for boring in wood. A shipworm is not a worm, but a greatly elongated clam. Its two shells, enclosin...

sand dollar

(Encyclopedia)sand dollar, common name for a marine animal in the same phylum as the starfish (see sea star). The sand dollar has a rigid, flattened, disk-shaped test, or shell, made of firmly united plates lying j...

Dyson, Freeman John

(Encyclopedia)Dyson, Freeman John dīˈsən [key], 1923–2020, British-American theoretical physicist and mathematician, studied Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1945) and Cornell. He did bomber operations resear...

Wallace, Alfred Russel

(Encyclopedia)Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823–1913, English naturalist. From his study of comparative biology in Brazil and in the East Indies, he evolved a concept of evolution similar to that of Charles Darwin. Li...

chimaera

(Encyclopedia)chimaera kĭmērˈə [key], cartilaginous marine fish, related to the sharks. Also called ratfishes, chimaeras are found in temperate oceans throughout the world, mostly in deep water. They have large...

angelfish

(Encyclopedia)angelfish, common name for certain members of the Pomacanthidae, a family of brightly colored reef-dwelling tropical fishes with compressed bodies and small mouths and teeth. They were formerly classi...

Fleury, André Hercule de

(Encyclopedia)Fleury, André Hercule de äNdrāˈ ĕrkülˈ də flörēˈ [key], 1653–1743, French statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Tutor of the young Louis XV, he became, at the age of 73, chief...

Morisot, Berthe

(Encyclopedia)Morisot, Berthe bĕrt môrēzōˈ [key], 1841–95, French impressionist painter. She studied with many gifted painters, including Corot. She formed a close friendship with Manet, who became her broth...

Mariana Trench

(Encyclopedia)Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench, mârˌēănˈəz [key], elongated depression on the Pacific Ocean floor, 210 mi (338 km) SW of Guam. It is the deepest known depression on the earth's surface, havin...