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Trans-Caspian Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Trans-Caspian Railroad, transportation line linking the countries of Central Asia to one another and with the nations to the west. Built in the late 19th cent., the line begins at Turkmenbashi (Krasno...

Fitzgerald, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Fitzgerald, Maurice, d. 1176, Anglo-Norman soldier. He was the son of Gerald, steward of Pembroke castle, and Nesta, daughter of the prince of South Wales. Fitzgerald crossed to Ireland in 1169 to joi...

marbling

(Encyclopedia)marbling, in bookbinding, a process of coloring the sides, edges, or end papers of a book in a design that suggests the veins and mottles of marble. In tree marbling, as of tree calf bindings, the des...

Yggdrasill

(Encyclopedia)Yggdrasill ĭgˈdrəsĭl, yo͞ogˈ– [key], in Norse mythology, the great tree of the world. Its branches and roots extended through all the universe—the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. At ...

Sachs, Julius von

(Encyclopedia)Sachs, Julius von fə zäks [key], 1832–97, German botanist. A professor at the Univ. of Würzburg from 1868, he was a founder of experimental plant physiology. He demonstrated the importance of tra...

Owyhee

(Encyclopedia)Owyhee ōˈwīhē [key], river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, rising in several branches in SW Idaho, N Nev., and SE Oreg. and flowing N across NE Oreg. to the Snake River; named in 1826 for two Hawaiian em...

Dodona

(Encyclopedia)Dodona dōdōˈnə [key], in Greek religion, the oldest oracle, in inland Epirus, near modern Janina, sacred to Zeus and Dione. According to Herodotus, an old oak tree there became an oracle when a bl...

Colorado, river, Argentina

(Encyclopedia)Colorado kōlōräˈᵺō [key], river, c.550 mi (885 km) long, rising from tributaries in the Andes and flowing SE across S central Argentina to the Atlantic Ocean. It marks the northern limit of Pat...

calculus

(Encyclopedia)CE5 The derivative f″(x) of the function f(x) at the point P represents the slope of the tangent line at that point. CE5 The area under the curve y=f(x) may be found by calculating the sum of ...

Grijalva

(Encyclopedia)Grijalva grēhälˈvä [key], river, c.400 mi (640 km) long, rising in SW Guatemala and flowing NW into S Mexico and N through Chiapas and Tabasco states to the Gulf of Campeche. It is navigable for c...